Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 SIX DAYS LATER TUESDAY, JULY 17, 2018 A WINDING ROAD IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AROUND 1:15 P.M. New Jersey Man Arrested

2018年7月17日，星期二，下午1点15分左右，加州北部一条蜿蜒的道路。 新泽西男子被捕

Tim Wallace, 42 years old, of North Creek, New Jersey, was arrested Wednesday afternoon. He is accused of stealing millions of dollars from the bank where he has worked for 15 years. Police arrested Wallace at the home he shares with his wife, Trish, and their 11-year-old son… "Josh," Mom said, looking over from the driver's seat. "Don't read those stories. They're just going to upset you." "Sorry, Mom," Josh said, letting his phone drop to his lap. Mom was right. These articles about Dad were total garbage, filled with lies. Of course Dad didn't steal money from the bank! It was all a mix-up, some problem with the bank's computer. Dad said it happened all the time. The police must have known right away they'd made a mistake; they let Dad come home just a

现年42岁的蒂姆·华莱士（Tim Wallace）来自新泽西州北溪（North Creek），于周三下午被捕。 他被指控从他工作了15年的银行窃取了数百万美元。 警察在华莱士和妻子崔西以及11岁儿子的家中逮捕了他。“乔希，”妈妈从驾驶座上看过来，说道。 “不要读那些故事。 他们只会让你心烦。” “对不起，妈妈。”乔希说着，把手机掉在膝盖上。 妈妈是对的。这些关于爸爸的文章全是垃圾，全是谎言。 爸爸当然没有从银行偷钱！都是搞错了，银行的电脑出了问题。 爸爸说这种事经常发生。 警察一定立刻意识到他们犯了一个错误；他们让爸爸回家只是

few hours after they arrested him. Now all Dad had to do was go to court and explain everything to a judge. Or something like that. What mattered was that soon this whole mess would be all cleared up. Mom reached over for Josh's hand, but he slid it away. He loved Mom, of course—she was the best. But he wasn't the touchy type. He glanced at her—her hair wasn't all done up, and she had gray circles under her eyes. Poor Mom looked stressed out. "Let's take a break from reading those stories," she said. "That's why we came here." Here was the middle of nowhere, somewhere in California. They'd flown into the Sacramento airport this morning, and they'd been driving for what seemed like forever. They were heading to some little town where Mom's cousins lived. It had been Mom's idea that she and Josh get away while Dad straightened out the mess at the bank.

在他们逮捕他几小时后。 现在爸爸所要做的就是去法庭，向法官解释一切。 或者类似的东西。重要的是，这整个烂摊子很快就会被清理干净。 妈妈伸手去拉乔希的手，但他却把它滑开了。 他当然爱妈妈——她是最好的。 但他不是那种敏感的人。 他瞥了她一眼——她的头发没有完全梳起来，她的眼圈是灰色的。 可怜的妈妈看起来很紧张。 “让我们从那些故事中休息一下，”她说。 “这就是我们来这里的原因。” 这里是加州一个偏僻的地方。 今天早上，他们飞到了萨克拉门托机场，似乎已经开了很长时间。 他们要去妈妈的表兄弟们住的一个小镇。 本来是妈妈的主意，她和乔希离开，爸爸去处理银行的混乱。

"We'll have an adventure together," she'd said. Josh had figured he and Mom would go to the hotel on the shore, like they'd planned. But Mom had decided this was the perfect chance to visit their cousins—Holly, who was Josh's age, and her mom, Nicole. Josh knew Mom and Nicole had been buddies when they were little girls. But those two hadn't seen each other in years. And Josh and his mom had never even met Holly. Mom had showed Josh Holly's picture. She looked friendly enough. But from what Mom had said, he could just tell that he and Holly were different types. She seemed all into nature and stuff like that. Trees could be cool if you could climb them, and Josh loved animals. He'd just rather play video games than die of boredom on a hike. And where exactly did these cousins live? Josh stared out the car window. They seemed to be driving through an endless forest. He gripped

“我们将一起冒险，”她说。 乔希本来打算和妈妈去海边的旅馆，就像他们计划好的那样。 但妈妈认为这是一个绝佳的机会，可以去拜访他们的表妹——和乔希同龄的霍莉和她的妈妈妮可。 乔希知道妈妈和妮可小时候是好朋友。 但他们俩已经好几年没见面了。 乔什和他妈妈都没见过霍莉。 妈妈给乔什·霍利看了照片。 她看上去很友好。 但是从妈妈说的话中，他可以看出他和霍莉是不同类型的人。 她似乎很喜欢大自然之类的东西。 如果你能爬上树，树会很酷，乔什喜欢动物。 他宁愿玩电子游戏也不愿在徒步旅行中无聊而死。 这些表亲到底住在哪里？ 乔希凝视着车窗外。 他们似乎正驱车穿过一片无边无际的森林。 他困扰

his phone tighter. At least he could check the Yankees scores and FaceTime with Greg and Dad whenever he wanted. Josh leaned his head against the window. He was just dozing off when Mom's voice jolted him back to life. "Josh!" Mom said. "Look at this!" Josh turned to the window, and his eyes bugged out. They were still driving through the forest. Except every single tree was dead—bare and black and twisted. It looked like an evil witch had cast a killing spell, destroying everything for miles around. A chill ran down Josh's spine. What could have happened here?

他的手机更紧了。至少他可以随时查看洋基队的比分，还可以随时和格雷格和爸爸视频聊天。 乔希把头靠在窗户上。 他刚打起盹来，妈妈的声音把他惊醒了。 “杰克!”母亲说。“看这个！”乔希转向窗户，瞪大了眼睛。 他们仍然驾车穿过森林。 除了每一棵树都光秃秃的，又黑又扭。 看起来像是一个邪恶的女巫施了杀戮咒，摧毁了周围几英里的一切。 一阵寒意顺着乔希的脊背流下来。 这里会发生什么？