Camden Vaile

Sunday, May 3rd

We awoke with a start. There was a loud crash and the sound of broken glass. Joel jumped up and dragged his shorts on as he ran from the bedroom. I had jumped up and was pulling my robe on as I ran. We both skidded to a stop in the kitchen doorway.

Toni had her hands held in mid-air and she said, "Sorry! Sorry... I just dropped a bowl. I'm sorry!" When we started to enter the kitchen she said, "Stop! There's glass everywhere. I don't want you to step on it."

Tracey said from behind us, "Is everything ok? What happened?"

Toni was already tip-toeing around the glass to get the broom and dustpan. I said, "Yeah... Toni just dropped a bowl."

Jasmine said, "Well that's one way to wake everyone up!" We all laughed and tip-toed into the kitchen to help her clean up the mess. Once everything was cleaned up we all decided that we'd go ahead and pack up and go for one last walk along the beach.

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Once we got back to the house, Braden and Jasmine went to the realtor while the rest of us headed to the restaurant to get our seats for breakfast. By the time they got to the restaurant we had our seats and were ready to order. We had a really good time and talked about everyone getting together again next year at the beach house. We talked about camping next month and getting everyone together at Joel's grandparents over the 4th of July. It was so blessedly normal and felt wonderful to have a huge group of friends that stuck together and enjoyed each other.

When we all headed back out to the cars, Braden handed Joel his truck key and Joel passed it to Daniel and said, "You and Tracey want to drive it to Birmingham?"

Jason said, "We'll stop and pick you up. We have to all go through Birmingham anyway to get home."

Daniel said, "Yeah we can do that." He took the key and we all turned to tell everyone bye.

When I hugged Jasmine she said, "Please be careful. You need to call Detective Smith and tell him we're going."

I nodded and said, "I will."

Joel said, "We'll be going to the cops on campus when we get there and filling them in too."

Jana hugged me and said, "If you need anything... call me."

I hugged her back and said, "Thanks."

With that, we all piled into our cars and headed out.

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The closer we got to campus the more my stomach started to feel uneasy. I knew it was nerves. Jackson hadn't shown himself again in Panama and when I'd talked to Detective Smith he'd said they hadn't been able to find him. It was like Jackson had this supernatural ability to pop up on a whim and then disappear again. I didn't know how much longer I could take this cat and mouse game.

Right after we made the exit to head to campus I had to get Joel to pull over so I could be sick. When I closed my door back, he handed me a tissue and said, "Alright?"

I just nodded and leaned back against the seat. He frowned at me and took my hand. He drove in silence for a minute and then said, "Cam... maybe you need to go see the campus nurse."

I snorted and said, "I am a nurse. I'm fine Joel. I'm just stressed out and it's keeping my stomach upset." He just looked at me and I said, "I'm fine. I'll be much better once he is found."

When we got to UAB, Daniel parked a few spaces down from us. We met him in the parking lot to get Joel's keys. We said our good byes and let him and Tracey have a moment alone. We walked over to where Toni and Jason had parked and talked to them for a few. When Daniel got in their car, we all waved them off.