“But what will you do now?”
He gave me a weary look. “Quit the Alumni Office, for one. Get the hell out of North Carolina. After that, I don’t know. Heather always wanted to travel…”
He turned to Jack and held out his hand. “Thank you for helping me after everything I did to make your life hell. I owe you.”
Jack ignored Eric’s hand and wrapped his arms around him. “Thanks for believing me.”
Eric nodded at Frankie, and with one last glance down at me—at the restraints, tying me to the bed—he took a deep breath and walked out the door.
I struggled with what to say, how to express my lingering worry about Eric, but before I could, Frankie blurted, “I’m going on the Today show.”
Jack blinked. “What?”
Frankie’s cheeks turned red. “To talk about being out in the NFL. During the parade, I—”
Jack waved a hand. “I saw.”
A beat of silence. Frankie took a deep breath, and so did I.
Jack looked at him out of the corner of his eye. “I was proud of you.”
A slow smile spread over Frankie’s face. “You want to know the best part?”
“Let me guess. Your Twitter following jumped by a hundred thousand people overnight?”
Frankie frowned. “It wasn’t a business decision, Jack. Come on.”
I felt that overwhelming sense that I shouldn’t be here.
“Allow me my cynicism. I’ve earned it. Especially when it comes to you.”
They looked at each other for a long time, something passing between them. Then the ghost of a smile appeared on Jack’s face, and he rolled his eyes. “All right, Frank. Tell me. What’s the best part?”
“My dad is coming with me to the Today show.”
“He is?” I blurted.
Frankie nodded, though he was still watching Jack. “Telling him wasn’t at all like I thought.”
Jack swallowed. “I’m glad.”
“Jack, I’m sorry I ever thought—”
Jack shook his head. “Hey, Frankie? Don’t.”
Frankie looked like he wanted to protest. But after a second, he just nodded. “I understand.” His gaze slid to me. “I guess I’ll go, then. Hang in there, Jess.”
“I’ll watch the show,” I offered. “Assuming I’m not in jail.”
He gave me a weak smile, stole one last glance at Jack, and left, shoulders spanning nearly the width of the doorway before they disappeared.
Jack sank onto my bed and sighed. “Hallelujah. All alone.” He nodded at my restraints. “I know how that feels. Just remember, I’ve got your back.”
Jack Carroll, so good, all the way through. Willing to stick by my side through a murder investigation, even though no one had stuck by his.
“Hey,” he said, as if he could read my mind. “For a little while you thought I might be capable of murder, and for a little while I thought you might be. That makes us even.”
He didn’t know the whole truth, so he didn’t actually know what I was capable of, but I nodded anyway. “What else are friends for?”
“I’ve heard they’re good for introducing to boyfriends. Will’s here. Want to meet him?”
I jerked against the restraints, suppressing a curse. “You brought him? What happened to keeping the past separate?”
Jack’s eyes searched the wall above my head. “When Eric and I first made this plan, I wasn’t optimistic. I was worried Eric wouldn’t be able to pull it off, get you guys to talk.”
“He was a pretty effective interrogator, actually.”
“Well, as much as I didn’t want to be let down, I started having this dream that I finally got to come back, like a normal student. Show my boyfriend around campus, cheer on the Crimson, get my old coffee order at the Frothy Monkey. I decided no matter what, I wanted that dream to come true.”
“And here you are.”
He was silent for a moment. “I still can’t believe it was Mint.”
“I can. But I don’t know how to explain.”
Jack eyed me. “Well, you did know him best.”
“No. No one knew Mint, it turns out.”
We were quiet for a while. Then Jack smiled sadly. “Can you imagine what Heather would say if she was here?”
“She’d tell me I look awful in this hospital gown.”
“She’d say it was about damn time we solved her case. And that she’ll kill us if we ever forget her.”