The Lady Vanishes (35 page)

A man in a suit came from the hallway behind her, an older gentleman who reminded Regina of Gregory Peck.

“Ms. Burke?”

“Yes,” Regina said.

“Marshal Winters. Come with me, and I’ll take you to see your father.”

Regina followed him back down the hallway and through a set of wooden double doors that he opened by swiping some kind of key card.

There was another guard just inside, and another locked door. The guard asked to see her purse, so Regina handed it over without any questions, and got it back a few minutes later.

Moments later, she was taken to a room with two armchairs, a coffee table, and a painting of George Washington crossing the Potomac.

“You can have a seat. I’ll have your father brought in.”

Regina sat, setting her purse on the floor next to the chair, and wondered exactly what she was doing. She hadn’t seen her father in years. He’d ruined her life. He’d shamed her. She didn’t see how talking to him now was going to change anything. How could it possibly matter what the man had to say after sixteen years?

When he was finally brought in, she barely recognized him. He had gained weight, wherever he’d been, and he had a tan. She remembered him always being meticulously groomed and tailored, but he was now sporting several days’ growth of beard, liberally sprinkled with gray. His dark hair, the origin of her own dark, glossy locks, was also more salt than pepper at this point. Wherever he’d been, he hadn’t been spending his time gardening or taking yoga classes.

His eyes were flat and expressionless as he took a seat in the chair next to hers. The marshal waited just inside the door, watching her father.

Regina waited for him to say something first, but he just continued to watch her.

“Father,” she said simply.

“Regina,” he replied, and there were the crisp tones of his New England upbringing. “I hear I have your boyfriend to thank for putting me in this situation.”

“You have yourself to thank.” She didn’t mention that Milton wasn’t her boyfriend. He didn’t deserve to know anything about her.

He grunted. “You sound like your grandmother.”

Regina was glad to hear it. Her grandmother was the only decent family member she’d ever had. It was inconceivable that a woman like her had produced a man like him.

“She passed away the year after you disappeared.”

“I heard,” he said shortly, his tone terse.

“She died in a hospital. In pain. I wasn’t there when she passed away because I was working, going to school, and taking care of Celeste.” Her tone had taken on an edge, one that he dismissed with a flick of his finger.

“Quit whining. Now you sound like your mother. Jesus, that woman and her endless complaining.”

Since Regina remembered very well, she shut her mouth, her teeth clicking together. She hadn’t come here for this. She’d come to tell him that she didn’t need him, that she’d made something of her life even without him around, without money. She had done it on her own, and there was no one who could take that away from her.

“Celeste said she spoke to you.”

He nodded, looking faintly amused. “She came by.”

“She told me that you apologized to her for leaving, that you were sorry.”

He laughed. “Well, damn, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree in her case. What a liar.”

Regina blinked, taken aback.
A liar?

“She came here and told me that I was fatter than she remembered, said she hoped someone hired a hit man to shank me while I ate overcooked macaroni.”

Regina was so astonished, she didn’t react. She just sat there.

“So you came here expecting an apology?” He exhaled out of his nose, and settled back. “Why should I apologize to you?”

Regina looked at him, just looked at him, and thought about her life since he’d left. Had she really been unhappy? She’d raised her sister, become a doctor, helped save dozens of children. She looked at him, waiting to stand trial for embezzling hundreds of millions, and he was just sitting there, still arrogant, still convinced that he could do no wrong. She’d been so angry for so long, when the truth of the matter was he’d done her a favor.

“You shouldn’t.” She stood, picking up her purse. “I’m glad you left. I’m glad you didn’t take us with you.”

“That’s what you came here to tell me?”

She’d come to blame him, she realized. But the truth was, she had herself to thank for the good and the bad. She thought of Milton, of how she felt when she was with him. He was definitely the good, and she’d thrown it away because of this man. She was a fool.

“I’m finished here,” she told the marshal. She stood and looked down at her father. “Enjoy the macaroni,” she said curtly and left.

She was met by another marshal just outside the door, this one a woman with black hair and blue eyes.

“I’ll take you back outside, Ms. Burke.”

“Thank you.” Regina nodded, and followed the marshal out of the room.

“Is it true Milton Shaw is your boyfriend?” the marshal asked when they reached the hallway.

Regina glanced sideways at the woman. Why did she want to know? “Yes,” she said slowly, letting the idea sink and settle inside her. At least, he
would
be her boyfriend, once she found a way to apologize. Once she told him she loved him.

“A lot of people would like to thank him for his help with this one. Not just finding the bastard, but finding what he did with the money. Without his influence, it’s unlikely any of it would have been recovered.”

Regina nodded, thinking about Milton. He was nothing if not thorough. And he didn’t really like being thanked, unless it was with sex or video games.

“He did it for me,” she said simply, knowing it to be true. The man had tried to fix the problem that was keeping her from him by finding her father and arranging for his capture. Excessive? Over the top? That was Milton. That was the man she loved.

THE ENTERTAINMENT ROOM
in Boston Children’s Hospital had never been so full of people. Kids, their parents, hospital staff, and several well-dressed members of society were all crammed into uncomfortable seats as if they were preparing to watch a school play. The benefit chart at the entrance said they’d raised several hundred thousand dollars, though Accendo had donated the majority of it.

It doesn’t matter,
Milton thought, peeking through the curtain. He would have given any amount of money to the kids if it could have made them better.

He glanced at his phone again. She’d texted him that morning. The first time she’d actually texted him back since that night.

I’ll be a little late
was all she’d written.

It was weird. Nick had said he would be late as well. And Nick was never late.

He hoped she didn’t miss the beginning. The kids were going to demonstrate their tricks for the audience, with Milton acting as master of ceremonies. The scene at the end was the big scene where Regina would be put into the vanishing box.

Someone tugged on his pant leg. He looked down to see Emily, a pink wig on her head, complete with princess crown.

“Dr. Burke is here,” she said in a stage whisper loud enough to be heard in the back of the room.

“Good,” he whispered back. “Get with the others.”

The show began with a story, the young magicians charged with learning a magic trick to help defeat the evil princess who’d taken over the land. One by one they demonstrated what they’d learned to the delight of the audience, who clapped and cheered even when a ball was dropped and rolled into the crowd, or a toy horse fell out of a sleeve and clattered to the stage.

When it was time for the evil princess to appear, she strolled on stage like a born performer, dressed in her scrubs, a long purple cape, and the crown on her head. Milton knew he was staring, but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t believe she was here in front of him, speaking her lines about taking over all magic.

“I am Princess Regina, and when I was young, a magician stole everything from me.” She swept the audience with a furious gaze.

“And now, in revenge, I’m going to take all magic,” she growled.

She performed the trick he taught her flawlessly, making the gathered objects the kids had produced seem to disappear before the audience, casting her cape over the loot and just as quickly sweeping it aside, revealing that everything was gone.

Saint George, helmet in place, walking slowly but resolutely with his IV pole in tow, charged forward with his sword in hand.

“I challenge you,” he yelled.

The other kids joined in, charging onto the stage and surrounding her, brandishing swords.

The evil princess raised her hands in surrender, and Milton, trying not to laugh as he made his voice triumphant, began tying her wrists, only he didn’t exactly use the knot they’d practiced with.

She didn’t seem to notice. Her dark eyes stared into his, seeming to try and tell him something. He didn’t want to hope too much, not while they were on stage and he couldn’t talk to her, couldn’t kiss her and promise her that he was sorry, that he hadn’t meant to hurt her.

As they’d planned, he led her to the vanishing machine. She stepped inside and he closed the glass. Her face had the same expression that she’d had when they’d recorded the image in his attic two weeks ago, but he knew that, inside, she was struggling to remove the knots that he’d looped around her wrists.

Milton turned to the audience. “This is the part where I’m supposed to make the evil princess disappear, right, kids?”

Looking confused, they nodded. “Yeah, make her vanish, Shaw.”

Milton scratched his head. “Well, the thing is, I think she put a spell on me, a love spell, and I can’t make her vanish. I’ve lost my magic.”

With the press of a button on the concealed remote, he opened the glass door, expecting to see Regina tied, unable to conceal herself along the side frame of the box.

She wasn’t there. Instead, dozens and dozens of paper flowers spilled out, just like the ones he’d pinned to her scrubs that first day they met.

Emily skipped over and picked one up, her pink wig askew. “It says, ‘I love you, too.’ ”

“Oh, man,” Saint George muttered. Chuck looked disgusted.

Astonished, Milton watched as Regina stepped out from behind the vanishing machine, coming to stand in front of him. Her dark eyes were glowing with delight.

Laughing, he scooped her over one shoulder and turned around. “This lady is never vanishing again. We’ll put her in the dungeon instead.”

The kids, despite their obvious confusion, cheered and began to chase after him as he made his way down the ramp. Chaos reigned as people in the audience tried to figure out what was happening. Nick was attempting to explain, but he was making a mess of it. He heard Blake’s voice just as he reached the glass doors.

“Shaw the Magician and his companions, ladies and gentlemen. Let’s give them a hand.”

Regina lifted herself up on his shoulder, so he stopped and let her slide down the front of him.

She slid a hand around the back of his neck and whispered in his ear. “This dungeon wouldn’t happen to have sex toys in it, by any chance?”

He chuckled and kissed her. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”