The next thing Josh knew, he was out the door, sprinting across the lawn. He heard Mom calling after him. Holly stepped out of the garage as Josh rushed past.

“Josh! You won’t believe it! King Kong! He’s back! I walked into the garage …”

But Josh kept running, not even looking at her.

“Where are you going?” she shouted after him.

He dashed across the big grassy yard, down the hill, and finally into the forest. He followed one of the hiking trails.

Faster! he told himself, brushing through the scratchy pine branches that lined the path, jumping over a dead branch. Faster!

But it didn’t matter how fast he was going. He couldn’t escape the ugly truth.

Dad — his hero — was a criminal.

Josh ran until he couldn’t take another step. He was so far into the woods; he couldn’t see the house through the trees. This was farther than he and Holly had ever come before. He staggered to a stop and dropped to the ground between two big pine trees. He sat there, gasping for breath.

His mind swirled.

That whole story about a computer glitch at the bank — it was a lie.

This trip to California. It was all a big trick.

Mom hadn’t dragged Josh here for an exciting adventure. They came here because this was the middle of nowhere. Because it was one of the only places Mom could take him where Josh would be cut off from everything — the news, texts from friends, the truth.

Josh was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t hear Holly’s footsteps. But now here she was in front of him, her face shiny with sweat. She tried to catch her breath.

Josh turned away. She must have known the truth, too, Josh thought. She and Aunt Nicole were probably in on the whole thing.

“Please just go,” Josh said, wiping his tears and waving her away. “I want to be by myself.”

He still couldn’t believe Dad had stolen that money! How was that possible? How could his father be a criminal?

Josh pictured Dad taking care of Mom after her bike accident, carrying her up the stairs, cooking her favorite foods. Dad’s bright, strong voice rang through Josh’s mind, cheering Josh on in the driveway while he was practicing his three-pointers. He saw Dad’s big smile, the one that made Josh feel he could do anything.

Now it seemed that person was gone.

Holly came closer.

“Josh,” she pleaded. “What’s going on? Are you okay? Are you mad at me? Did I do something?”

Josh studied her. She looked totally confused, her face one big question mark. Could it be that she really didn’t know the truth about his dad?

Holly sat down in the dirt next to Josh. Her eyes searched his face for answers.

Josh decided that no, Holly wasn’t faking. They’d spent almost every minute together over the last week. He doubted she could keep such a big secret the whole time.

So Josh spat it all out — the whole ugly story about Dad. The arrest. The lies. The New York Times article. “He’s going to jail,” Josh finally said.

Holly’s eyes widened. “Jail?”

Josh nodded.

His shock was fading, he realized. Now he was just sad. Sadder than he’d ever been.

“Did you hear King came back?” Holly said, definitely trying to distract him. “It was the weirdest thing. I walked into the garage looking for you, and there he was, wrapped around his log. Like he’d never left.”

She smiled hopefully, but Josh turned away. He was happy about King, of course. But he was pretty sure he’d never want to smile again.

They sat there for what seemed like a long time, staring up into the trees. Finally Holly moved closer to him.

“When my dad died, everything changed,” she said in a very soft voice. “We used to live in the city. My mom worked as a lawyer. I went to this fancy school.”

Josh looked at her.

“Really?” Josh said. It was impossible to imagine Holly living anywhere other than here.

“Eleanor was an old friend of my dad’s,” Holly said. “She was living here, and convinced me and my mom to move. I hated it here at first. I just wanted my old life back.”

She paused for a few seconds.

“But I got used to things, after a while. It wasn’t easy, to start over. But I did it. It was like … like shedding my skin.” She looked at Josh. “You know?”

No, Josh thought, I don’t know. Sometimes Holly said things he just didn’t get. And before she could say more, her eyes suddenly went wide. She scrambled to her feet and looked around.

“What’s wrong?” Josh asked. That expression on Holly’s face. It scared him.

“Do you smell that?” she said, her nose twitching.

“What?” he said.

Holly looked at Josh.

“Smoke.”