The Missing Donor

"Your brother disappeared with the woman I was meant to marry."

"Milo needs Blackwood access more than I need you in a car. If Vivian takes your authority, she controls the donor search."

He hated the logic because it was hers and because it was right.

"Theo goes with you," he said. "Hospital security can geolocate Celeste's car through its emergency service."

Theo shook his head. "The vehicle is owned by Ashbourne Holdings. We need consent, a warrant, or an imminent-threat basis for the provider to disclose location."

"Her driver is missing too."

"That supports a police report. It does not make me a judge."

Sloane set down the coffee. "Celeste's phone pinged Theo twice last night. Ask him why."

Rowan looked at his oldest friend.

Theo swore under his breath. "She asked whether the family office kept off-site paper archives. I told her I couldn't discuss corporate records."

"And then?"

"I sent her the address of the old Ashbourne town house."

"Why?"

"Because Vivian used it for document storage during the merger due diligence, and Celeste said Sloane's letters might be there."

Sloane grabbed her coat. "You could have led with that."

"I was trying to verify it before sending you into a building owned by people who forge custody waivers."

"You have twenty minutes to become useful."

Rowan caught Sloane's wrist before she reached the door. She stopped, her pulse beating beneath his fingers.

"Call the police," he said. "Do not enter with Theo alone."

"Adrian will run if uniforms arrive."

"Then let him run. Milo needs him alive, not cornered."

She looked at his hand until he released her. "Win your vote."

The elevator ride to Blackwood Tower took ninety seconds. Rowan used them to call Mara and authorize outside registry access before the board could freeze his signature. Then he called the police commissioner, reported Adrian missing, and refused the offer to keep the matter informal.

"Put it on record," he said. "If Celeste Ashbourne is in danger, I want a timestamp proving when we knew."

The boardroom occupied the fiftieth floor, a black table beneath a ceiling that reflected everyone seated around it. Vivian sat in the chair's place. Nine directors had joined in person; three appeared on screens. A news channel played without sound on the wall. Footage of Rowan carrying Milo from the cathedral ran beneath a banner about Blackwood shares falling six percent.

Vivian gestured to the empty seat beside her. "You are seven minutes late."

"A potential marrow donor disappeared."

"Your private crisis has erased four billion dollars in market value."

"Then the market needs a better attention span."

A director cleared his throat. "Rowan, the merger wedding was represented as a material step in consolidating the Ashbourne health assets. Walking out may trigger termination rights."

"A wedding is not a corporate closing condition. Counsel warned you about tying governance to my marriage."

Vivian folded her hands. "Counsel did. You assured us the personal commitment was secure."

Theo's absence left the chair beside Rowan empty. The vote packet contained a special committee report dated two days before the wedding. His mother had prepared the removal before Sloane entered the cathedral.

"You expected an interruption," he said.

"I expected you to become unreliable."

His phone vibrated under the table. Sloane: TOWN HOUSE EMPTY. THEO FOUND TIRE TRACKS IN GARAGE. POLICE ON WAY.

Vivian watched him read it. "We can adjourn for ten minutes if family matters are distracting you."

"You would enjoy that in the minutes."

The general counsel began presenting the resolution. It suspended Rowan as CEO pending investigation, appointed Vivian interim executive chair, and revoked his access to hospital systems and family-office records. Every clause cut directly into Milo's treatment.

Rowan argued the conflict. Vivian chaired the hospital foundation, controlled the lab vendor under investigation, and had sought Milo's transfer. Two directors listened. The rest watched the stock ticker.

His phone rang. Sloane's name filled the screen.

"Do not answer," Vivian said. "This vote requires your presence."

Rowan stood and took the call.

"We found Celeste's driver," Sloane said. Wind and sirens tore at her voice. "He was drugged and left in the town-house garage. Theo says his breathing is shallow."

"Naloxone is in most police kits. Put me on speaker."

Behind her, Theo shouted that the driver had a pulse. Rowan heard an officer give a dose, then another. The general counsel continued reading into the board record while Rowan counted breaths through the phone.

"He is breathing on his own," Sloane said. "Ambulance is here."

"And Adrian?"

"Gone. Celeste too."

Vivian called for the vote.

Rowan looked around the table. "A man has been assaulted in property connected to this merger. Delay until law enforcement establishes whether Ashbourne personnel are involved."

"The company cannot wait on every consequence of your choices," Vivian replied.

Eight hands rose for suspension. Three opposed. One abstained.

The secretary read the emergency resolution into the record. It stripped Rowan of signing authority, froze his access to the hospital endowment, and installed Vivian as acting chief executive until an independent committee reviewed his conduct. Rowan demanded that the minutes state his objection: the same directors voting to protect the merger had refused to investigate a possible kidnapping connected to it. Two directors lowered their hands. Neither changed a vote.

Vivian slid the written resolution toward him. "Your concern is now personal. Governance exists for moments when judgment fails."

"Governance also leaves fingerprints," Rowan said, and signed only to acknowledge receipt.

The access on Rowan's tablet died before the secretary finished recording the count.

He walked out as Vivian's interim title appeared on the news banner. In the elevator, he called Theo.

"My credentials are gone."

"I copied the lab payment logs before the vote," Theo said. "Doing so violated the document hold Vivian circulated this morning. She can fire me and refer me for discipline."

"Why did you do it?"

"Because the hold was designed to conceal evidence, and I am tired of drafting clean language for dirty work."

Sloane came on the line. "My phone is receiving a message from Adrian."

"Don't open attachments," Theo warned.

She read the text aloud.

"Celeste did not take me," Adrian had written. "I took her."