July 4, 1996

I have no words for the things I'm feeling right now. Mom went out to see the fireworks tonight. She told me she would stay home if I needed her but it was written all over her face how badly she wanted to go. She's with him. I know it. That's fine with me. I can't stand to even look at her right now. She would really lose it if she knew that I'd figured out who he is. Her precious Colonel. Knowing makes it worse than I had even imagined. She might have the rest of them fooled but not me. I know what they did. There's only one person I can talk to now. I'm hoping with a little help I can find the proof I need to expose both of them for what they are. I can't wait to see their faces when they find out I know. Enjoy your night out Mom because your baby girl's at home planning her own little fireworks show in your honor. It's going to be absolutely spectacular.

Cameron sifted through the printouts and handwritten notes scattered across the living room carpet of Andra's home. Before dropping Cameron and Andra off at the diner Melanie had texted them Jennifer's number. She had also made them promise to call her if they needed anything. She had pulled away from the curb only after warning them once more to be careful. It was the most she had spoken since their visit with Gloria. 

Melanie had heard the stories but she couldn't possibly understand what they were dealing with. Seeing it for herself was a completely different thing altogether. Cameron even understood Melanie's fear. He had felt that way himself just a few days ago. After everything that had occurred though he found that he agreed with Andra. It wasn't going to stop unless they put an end to it.

After Melanie had said her goodbyes the duo left the diner and headed back to Andras'. They thought that they would have a few hours to talk everything out and maybe call Conrad. Instead, they were met by Denise who had an impromptu day off thanks to a water leak at her office. She had spent the better part of the afternoon baking and fussing around the house. With Andra's mom so close by talking about everything that had transpired that day had been near impossible. They caught a break in the form of a phone call around an hour after they arrived. Several of the ladies from Denise's office had decided that a girls' night out was the perfect way to celebrate their unexpected vacation time.

Denise had gone out around six making sure to let them know that she'd be back by midnight. She reminded Andra before she left that she could see the home security cameras from her phone. "In other words," Andra mumbled to Cameron sarcastically, "we should keep our butts downstairs if we enjoy breathing."

As soon as Denise's car disappeared around the corner Andra had been down on the floor unloading her bag and handing Cameron papers while simultaneously dialing Conrad's number. When his voicemail picked up she rattled off a quick message before hanging up and joining Cameron in scouring through papers. They didn't need to discuss it both of them understood that they were looking for anything pertaining to the identity of the Colonel.

It didn't take long to realize that they had hit a dead end. None of the suspects or the people questioned seemed to fit the bill. "I don't even know where to go with this." Andra groaned leaning exhausted against the couch. "Ok," Cameron said slowly. "Let's try to talk this out."

Andra growled and got to her feet. "Fine," she said. "But I can't think on an empty stomach." Cameron followed her as she crossed the entryway and headed into the kitchen. She grabbed a small plastic-wrapped brown bag from a tall cabinet tossed it into the microwave and hit a few buttons. She grabbed two sodas from the fridge as the kitchen began to fill with a familiar popping sound and then the smell of warm buttered popcorn. 

"What do we do now?" Andra said aloud as she watched the bag inflating through the clear microwave door. "We don't have the first clue who this guy is."

"We still have to talk to Conrad. Maybe he'll know something."

"I don't think so. If he knew anything it would be in his notes. Did you see the way she was playing with her hair and hunting for imaginary lipstick? She had a thing for this guy."

"Yeah, I got that too," Cameron said. 

"I don't know," Andra answered. "It just seems like every time we get another piece to the puzzle we find out about four others that are missing. I'm scared some pieces have been gone too long."

The microwave dinged and Cameron watched as Andra busied herself with separating popcorn into two plastic bowls. She pushed one of the bowls across the island to him and they stood silently both lost in their thoughts.

Andra broke their silent vigil first as she grabbed her bowl and started back toward the living room. Cameron followed but before they got as far as the door Andra's phone rang.

 Grabbing it from her back pocket and glancing at the screen she hurriedly placed her bowl on the counter. As she answered the phone she hit the speaker button. She mouthed the word Conrad at Cameron before speaking.

"Hello."

"Hi, Andra this is Conrad. I was just returning your call."

"Yes sir. Thank you so much. I have Cameron here with me. We wanted to update you on everything that's been going on. We thought you might have some insight for us."

"Ok. Whatever I can do."

"We met with Gloria Miles today."

"How did you get in to see her?"

"Melanie still visits a couple of times a month and she volunteered to take us with her."

"I'm not even going to ask how you two managed to pull that off."

"Truthfully it was easier than I thought it would be."

She launched into the story of their visit making sure not to leave out any details. When she recounted Gloria's apparent revelation that someone had slipped Donald pills Cameron heard a distinct gasp from the other end of the phone.

"Wait," Conrad gasped. "You mean to tell me that Gloria is suggesting that Donald was murdered?"

"Yes. It sounded that way to us. That's why we wanted to talk to you. We need to know who the Colonel is. We've been through all our notes and yours and as far as I can tell there's nothing that points to anyone in particular. I thought you might have some clue as to who the Colonel could be or even a suggestion about how to find him."

"I would love to tell you that I do but everything I know about that case is in the notes I gave you. Not one person we talked to or interviewed had a nickname that I'm aware of and out of all those people I didn't come across one single individual who had a personal relationship with Gloria Miles. I'll go back and check on a few things. It seems we've overlooked something somewhere."

"Ok," Andra said. The hopeful tone that had colored her words at the beginning of their conversation was gone now. She sounded resigned and discouraged. There were still a few leads to follow but it felt like they had come to a dead end. 

"Just let us know what you find and I'll continue to keep you updated."

"Will do," Conrad answered. "Andra I cannot stress enough what important work you and Cameron have done. I wasn't sure about turning this over to you two but you have far exceeded what I thought was even possible. No matter what happens I appreciate everything you and Cameron have done here. I won't soon forget."

"You're welcome," Andra said. "I only hope that we'll be able to finish what we've started."

"Then we are both hoping for the same thing. I'll talk to you soon. Be careful."

The call disconnected and Andra leaned against the countertop her head in her hands. "I don't even know where to begin looking for someone who didn't even turn up in the police investigation. We had a starting point with the rest of this. Too much time has passed. This is going to be impossible."

"Maybe not," Cameron answered. "We're already leaps and bounds ahead of the original police investigation. Besides we have something they didn't."

"What's that?"

"Savannah. Some of the biggest breaks we've gotten have been from her. If this person did kill her dad I can't imagine she's going to stay quiet about it."

"So this is where we are now. Has this situation really gone so far sideways that we're actually depending on the input of a dead teenage girl with an ax to grind?"

"At this point, I'll take what we can get it as long as it gets us a little closer to this being over."

"Yeah," she said. I guess you're right. Ok, let's try to look at this differently. When all of this went down in '96 they didn't really investigate Gloria. They looked at the people closest to Savannah mainly her friends. They never really put Savannah's mom under a microscope. If they had where would that have led them?"

"I think the only logical explanation is her job. She was a pharmaceutical rep, right? The fact that Gloria claims someone slipped him meds just seems a little too coincidental for my liking."

"Yeah well, that kind of seems to be a running theme doesn't it?" Andra asked a note of sarcasm in her voice.

Just then the overhead lights flickered quickly on and then off. They both jumped and looked up at the same time. "What was that? Andra asked in a tense voice.

 "Probably just a light bulb trying to go out." But no sooner had Cameron answered her than it happened again. Andra jumped and then started to slide around the counter toward Cameron. Suddenly the radio by the stove came on. The volume began climbing on its own. Cameron knew what the song would be before the lead singer's velvet tones began to fill the room with the chorus to Wonderwall. Andra ran to the radio yanking the cord from the socket but the music continued to play. The lights above them began to flicker rapidly as her hands flew to her ears. Cameron shot across the room putting his arms around her in a vain attempt to protect her from things he couldn't see. Turning toward him she buried her face in his chest her hands still welded to her ears. Suddenly the kitchen door exploded inward with so much force that the pots in the cabinet rattled when it hit the wall. The noise was explosive even over the volume of the music. 

Cameron and Andra jumped and turned in that direction. He watched in horror as a fleeting shadow appeared in the open doorway. Andra screamed as the shadow began to grow and form into what resembled a cloud of black smoke roughly chest level with Cameron moving across the kitchen toward them.

Andra screamed again scrambling backward pushing both of them against the counter. Grabbing her arm Cameron pulled her protectively behind him trying to block her from view. It continued its slow advance until it was within inches of them. It wrapped itself around them cold fingers of ice dancing over their skin. Andra still screaming began to shake and tremble against him. He turned just in time to see her sliding to the floor her eyes rolled up to the whites. He grabbed her around the waist to keep her from hitting the floor and then lowered her gently to the ground. The black mist remained. Surrounding them as Cameron knelt on the floor beside Andra's lifeless body screaming her name.