he next morning I woke up smiling.

Friday. Always good. And summer vacation was just two weeks off. Soon I would finally shed the freshman label.

But my grin had little to do with the calendar.

Last night I’d witnessed a marvel: Coop, scampering about, tail wagging. Happy. After ten minutes of bouncing off the walls, he’d cleaned his bowl and nudged me for more.

A strong appetite meant the dog was recovering. Coop’s immune system had beaten the virus. Elated, I’d fed him seconds then thirds.

But not everything was rosy on the fitness front. Unlike Coop, I felt weak and listless. Worried about the flu, I popped a Zicam doused with echinacea. Preemptive strike.

That wasn’t my only concern.

Karsten had summoned the four of us for an “interview” with Loggerhead security. The potential blowback was too appalling to contemplate.

School that morning was business as usual. We had a lecture in bio, so I didn’t meet with Jason or Hannah. Good thing. I hadn’t run my DNA comparisons. Note to self: finish before meeting on Sunday.

At lunch the gang assembled by the dock as ordered. Mr. Blue hurried us aboard, then pushed off for Loggerhead. We gathered by the rail, too anxious to sit.

All morning I’d avoided thoughts of the upcoming interrogation. But now I started to get the jitters.

Hi had very strong feelings on the matter.

“Does everyone understand that we can’t screw this up? Our stories have to match. Exactly. To the letter.”

“I got it.” Shelton rolled his eyes. “We found a dog tag. Went to the library. Learned about Heaton. Tory noticed some weird stuff about the ground, so we dug up what turned out to be monkey bones. Easy.”

“Then we ‘got scared’ like idiots.” Even Ben’s air quotes were sarcastic. “And we ‘imagined’ gunshots and human skulls.”

To avoid taking heat, we’d decided on a strategy of playing dumb. No one would believe what had really happened, so telling the truth was useless. Au contraire. Full disclosure would create more suspicion.

I nodded my agreement.

Hi smacked his forehead in frustration. “No, no, no!”

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “That’s all we can say.”

“Details!” Hi barked. “To make a lie believable you need specifics. The more vague you are, the less credible you sound.”

We all looked at him.

Hi sighed. So patient.

“First, we need an alibi for Saturday. On top of that, we have to convince Karsten we made an honest mistake at the gravesite.”

“We’ll be fine,” Shelton said. “The man’s not psychic.”

“Really?” Hi locked his hands behind his back, pivoted, and loomed over Shelton. “You!” Thundered like a drill sergeant. “Where is the dog tag you found?”

“What?” Shelton yipped. “We... lost it.”

“Where?”

“In the woods. After we ran.”

“Where in the woods? Ran from what?”

“Oh, uh... Tory dropped the tag when we ran from... whatever.”

“From whatever?” Hi hammered. “Did you see men with guns or not?”

“Um, no, I guess not.”

“You guess?”

“It was dark.” Shelton struggled. “I realize now that nobody was there.”

“Then what did you hear?”

“Uh, er... pops. Like sticks breaking?” Shelton’s responses were growing increasingly feeble.

“How many? From which direction?”

“Lots. Like, from everywhere.”

Hi’s eyebrows shot up. “You heard ‘lots’ of ‘pops like sticks’ coming from everywhere? That’s your story?”

“Wait, no, not everywhere. From the... left?”

Hi honed in like a Patriot missile. “How many men chased you?”

“Three dudes.” Shelton replied without thinking.

Hi pounced. “But I thought you imagined the shooters?”

“Oh, no, I mean, I thought I saw men, but actually...” Sweat dampened Shelton’s hairline. “Okay! Enough!”

“You!” Hi pointed at Ben. “What’d you find in the pit?”

“Bones,” Ben answered.

“How many? Which ones?”

Ben opened his mouth, closed it.

“The bullet hole,” Hi said. “Which bone?”

“Skull.”

Hi leaned into Ben’s face. “But the monkey skull had no bullet hole!”

“Right... I thought the skull had a hole but I was wrong.”

“You thought? You can’t tell if there’s a hole in something?”

Ben paused. “Yell in my face again, buddy boy, and I’ll put a hole in your skull.”

Ignoring him, Hi turned on me.

“Where were you at nine o’clock Saturday morning?”

“What?” I hadn’t thought about Saturday. “I was at home. Sleeping.”

“Your father can verify that? He was home too, right?”!!!Oops.

“No, I forgot, I was at the bunk—”!!!Can’t say that either.

“With Ben in his boat,” I finished lamely.

“Alone?”!!!Crap. What the others would say?

“Maybe.”

“Maybe!?!” Hi threw his hands skyward.

“We’re screwed,” Shelton muttered.

“Okay, Hi,” I said. “I’m convinced. Lay it out.”

“Details are key.” Hi gestured for us to gather close. “We lock in the critical ones. Then, if Karsten asks something outside the box, either you don’t know, or you make up something the others don’t have to corroborate.”

He pointed at Shelton. “No one saw anybody in the woods. No lights, no voices, none of that.”

“I hear you.”

“Let’s say we heard exactly two bangs,” Hi said. “Like a whip cracking. Got it? ‘Whip cracks.’”

“Got it,” Shelton said. “Could have been a monkey in the trees. Maybe a branch breaking, who knows?”

“Right! But let them draw conclusions. We just act stupid. And the whip cracks came from ‘the other side of clearing.’ Nothing more specific than that. Okay?”

Everyone switched to memorization mode. Luckily, we were good at this kind of thing.

“And Tory lost the tag, so she can handle that however she wants. The rest of us say what?”

“I don’t know.” Shelton and Ben, together.

“Bingo.” Hi checked his watch. “We’ve got about thirty minutes. You guys are lucky I did some research.”

For the rest of the crossing we huddled, tweaking the alibi.!!!Please don’t let me foul this up!