May 15, 1996

We talked to the judge today. He's going over everything my parents have submitted over the past few months and then he'll make his ruling. I've never been as terrified in my life as I was today when they called me into the judge's chambers. I felt like a little kid again being called into the principal's office. It wasn't actually as bad as I had assumed it would be though. He had a lot of questions about me and my parents. He's the first adult in months to ask me what I wanted. He assured me that he would consider my feelings when he ruled. My parents are trying not to ask too many questions but it's obvious that they're dying to know what was said. The truth will come out soon enough but maybe it's better if I lay low for now.

Melanie's phone beeped loudly and she glanced down at it. "I have to go. My kids are almost done. Is there anything else you needed to know?" She asked already getting to her feet.

"I don't think so," Andra said. "You've really been helpful. I'm so sorry that we dug all this back up for you. We didn't feel like there was another option."

"It's ok. I think I needed this. It's been so long since I've talked to anyone about her or what happened. Not even Greg knows that I saw her after she died. He was so fragile that it just seemed kinder to let him believe that his vision of her was nothing more than a dream. I don't think he could have lived with the truth. We both had so much guilt after her passing, but I feel like I've finally been freed from some of that."

"I'm glad we could help with that much anyway."

Melanie nodded and motioned in the direction of the soccer field. "I guess I should go. The kid's practice will be over any minute now."

"Thank you again," Andra said as she and Cameron stood and began gathering their things. Melanie waved and then headed off at a jog in the direction of the soccer field. After depositing what was left of their lunch in the nearby wastebasket Andra and Cameron started back toward the Jeep in relative silence, taking a shortcut across the grass and up the embankment that led to the parking lot. Cameron looked back taking Andra's hand to help her up the slope. He threaded his fingers through hers as they walked slowly across the parking lot to where the car was parked.  Neither one of them said a word as he held the passenger door for her and helped her inside. He slid into the driver's seat next to her but didn't start the car.

"So what do you think?"

"I'm not sure exactly," Andra said. "There's so much to unpack. Nothing is what we thought it was. Do you believe her?"

Cameron sat quietly for a moment looking out of the windshield honestly considering the question. "Yeah I think I do," he said. "Something about the way she spoke. I can't put my finger on it. She seemed sincere."

"Yeah, I thought so too. Now, what though? If what she's saying is true then she and Greg are innocent. That also means that we're back to square one. If Savannah knew about Greg and Melanie and gave them her blessing then that can't be who she's referring to in her diary. It makes no sense."

"Unless Savannah lied," Cameron added.

"You think she would have done that?"

"I think she was extremely angry at someone. Enough to want revenge for whatever she felt had been done to her. You keep your friends close and your enemies closer, right? If you're planning on exacting revenge on someone you wouldn't tell them to their face would you?"

Andra let her head drop back against the headrest and groaned loudly. "We're literally no better off than we were before we talked to her."

"I wouldn't say that. We started with just the local story and it's becoming pretty clear that most of it was pieced together gossip. Plus don't forget there's also a mystery suspect now."

"Oh yeah," Andra said sitting up excitedly. "I almost forgot about that. Who do you think it was?"

"It could be literally anyone at this point."

"I think we need to call Conrad and run it by him," Andra said. "He would be so excited to hear what we've learned so far. He may even have some idea of who Savannah would have been meeting."

"Why not? It couldn't hurt. Let's do it." Cameron said already pulling his phone out and connecting it to the Jeep's Bluetooth so he and Andra could both talk.

The phone rang several times and Andra had begun to worry he wasn't going to answer. Suddenly there was a soft click and Sheriff Ramirez's deep velvet voice filled the Jeep's interior.

"Hi. Mr. Ramirez this is Cameron Davies. Mark's friend."

"Yes, Cameron. I remember. How are you?"

"I'm good. I'm actually calling because we've had some developments in the case we spoke with you about."

"Really?" Andra could hear the tone of his voice change the surprise in it barely concealed.

"Yes sir. I have Andra here with me. She's been keeping notes and could probably explain this better than I could."

"Hi, Sheriff Ramirez."

"Please call me Conrad."

"Sorry. Conrad. We just talked to Melanie Billings and she gave us some information that we thought you would be interested in."

Andra quickly went over the details of the story that Melanie had told them leaving out the late-night visits from Savannah's ghost. Discussing it with Melanie had been one thing. She had actually witnessed Savannah's ghost herself. Conrad on the other hand had worked a job that dealt with logic and facts. Andra doubted he would believe that story even if Savannah's ghost had appeared dressed in a tutu and performed Swan Lake for him.

When she finished there was silence on the other end of the phone. It lasted so long that Andra began to think that maybe they had been disconnected when suddenly Conrad began to speak. Andra could hear the subtle change in tone that said that he was all business. He was settling back into the case and Andra could hear the voice of the sheriff he had once been bleeding through every word.

"So Melanie says that Savannah was meeting someone at the party that night?"

"Yeah that's what she said but she has no idea who. Which brings me to another piece of news we wanted to share. Cameron and I have recently found ourselves in possession of Savannah's journal. I'm still reading but so far there's nothing about a meeting."

"You have her journal?" Conrad asked in astonishment. "We turned her house inside out searching for that but it never turned up. Where did you find it?"

"Let's just say that we had a little help identifying the exact location. I don't want to get into too much detail. Just call it protecting my sources if you will. I'll give you the entire story eventually but for now, it's just a little too weird. Melanie did confirm however that it was actually Savannah's journal."

"Ok, I'll let that slide for now because, in all honesty, nothing would surprise me with this case anymore. Do you have any theories as to who Savannah would have been meeting that night?"

"Actually no I was hoping you might have some clue. All we've gathered from the journal so far is that she was angry with someone or very possibly more than one someone. There are a lot of entries to sort through and not all of them seem to be relevant. The entries that seem important never mention anyone by name."

"The only real suspect that we ever had was Greg. Melanie was his alibi back then to as you've seen in the police report. Past that we never saw any evidence suggesting that anyone had a reason to hurt her. There was never any indication that she was seeing anyone else. Without more evidence, I couldn't even begin to venture a guess."

"I understand. We'll keep digging then. I also wanted to ask one more small favor if I could?"

"Ok. I'm listening."

"I know that you want to reopen this case. Could you give Cameron and me a few days before you tell anyone about what we've found here? The journal and everything else we've found is all yours the second I'm done but I just need some time before you make a move on anything."

"I can do that. How long do you want?"

"One week is all I need. Once I'm done we will bring you everything we have so you can finish this. Also if we wouldn't be bothering you too much I would love to pick your brain again if we come up with anything else."

"I would be offended if you didn't. I can give you a week. Whatever you need. The case isn't active so no one has any legal authority to keep you from following leads. Besides you two have come up with more in a few days than our team did the entire time the case was open. Take the time that you need and I'll help however I can. I would like to caution you though that if our initial suspicion was correct then someone in Savannah's circle could be a killer. If that's true then that someone is still out there. They may or may not know that you're asking around about Savannah. You need to be careful."

"We will be," Andra answered honestly wondering what he would say if he knew that they were probably in more danger from the dead than they were from the living.

"Alright. Well in that case I'll go back over everything I have one more time to make sure I haven't overlooked anyone she might have met with. Just let me know if you need any more help."

They quickly said their goodbyes and Cameron disconnected the call. "So what now?" Cameron asked.

"I thought maybe we should try talking to Jennifer Lewis next. I was hoping maybe Savannah said something to her when she drove her home from the party."

"Something different from what she said to the police?"

"Not exactly. More like something she said that didn't make sense at the time. Since we have the journal we have a little more context than the sheriff's office did in '96."

"Ok. So we set up a meeting with Jennifer. You need to set up some kind of teaser for your channel to right?"

"Yeah, I think it's time. We should probably head back and get that done."

"Home it is then." He said starting the car. They were just pulling out of the parking lot when Andra's cell rang. She pulled it out of the pocket of her bag expecting to see her mom's number. She was surprised to see Melanie's instead.

"Who is it?" Cameron asked seeing the confused look on Andra's face. She flipped the phone around so he could see the name displayed before swiping the little green phone icon. She immediately put the call on speaker before answering. "Hello."

"Hey, Andra. Are you where you can talk?"

"Yeah. I'm good. Is everything ok?"

"Maybe. I wanted to talk to you before the kids wrapped up. I've been going over this in my head ever since we spoke. I can't believe I'm even suggesting this but would you like to meet Gloria?"

Andra's mouth dropped open. "Are you serious? Savannah's mother? We heard she had been hospitalized."

"You heard correctly. She was placed in a psychiatric hospital shortly after Savannah's death. I still go to visit her a couple of times a month. Greg's running errands with the kids tomorrow so I had planned on dropping in to see her. You and your friend can come if you'd like."

"Yeah, we would love to. Thanks for inviting us."

"Yeah well, I'm still not sure I'm doing the right thing. The kids are here. I have to go but I'll text you the details."

Andra started to answer but the small beep from her phone told her that Melanie had already disconnected.

"We're actually going to meet Savannah's mother?" Cameron asked in disbelief drumming his fingers nervously on the steering wheel.

"It looks that way," Andra answered. To be honest she wasn't feeling very confident about this herself.

Andra's window was down and she leaned her head against the door frame as they rode down the quiet back roads in silence. The cool air that blew in the window tousled her hair and cooled her overheated skin as she tried to clear her mind. There was so much left to do and she was afraid that they would never solve the mystery of Savannah's death.

She was going over all the different angles of Savannah's story when she caught movement in the corner of the side view mirror. At first, she thought she had imagined it. She sat up a little straighter and from this angle she had a better perspective of what she had only had a glimpse of a few seconds before. The way the mirror was turned gave her a view of the back passenger side window. Through it, she could see the pale bruised face of a teenage girl her dark hair hanging loose around her shoulders. Her purple lips were drawn back in a thin malicious smile. She raised one skeletal hand wiggling the fingers in a grotesque wave.

A little shriek slipped from Andra's lips as she scrambled to unhook her seatbelt and then swiveled quickly around in the seat. She could see almost immediately that except for her and Cameron the car was empty. "An! What's wrong?" Cameron yelled in concern. He slammed on the brakes turning quickly to view the backseat. Before Andra could answer Cameron threw his hand over his face and mouth. "What is that smell? he yelled scrambling to get the back windows down.

Andra's shock had been so great at seeing Savannah there that she hadn't even noticed the smell until Cameron mentioned it. It was the same smell that had permeated Andra's room on Savannah's last impromptu visit. The smell of mold, death, and decay filled the interior of the Jeep. Andra turned toward him her eyes meeting Cameron's. A look of understanding crossed his face. "It was her again wasn't it?" he asked his voice flat. She nodded solemnly and then turned sliding back in her seat and fastening her seatbelt. "Ok then.' He murmured under his breath taking his foot off the brake and easing down on the gas.

They rode the rest of the way home in silence staring straight ahead. Neither of them wanting to look back but both of them feeling their unseen passenger riding quietly along with them.