Jessie and her best friend, Max, do everything together. Jessie tries to keep Max out of trouble, which is not easy since her friend is wild and adventurous. Soon Jessie begins to notice things Max has tried to keep hidden: like that her stepparents are drug dealers. At the risk of losing their friendship, Jessie decides to confront Max with the truth.
Following her stepparents' arrest, Max lived with Jessie for a while. Then she moved in with an elderly neighbor, Amelia, on her farm by the lake. Soon strange things start happening: Amelia's tires are slashed and there is a break-in at the house. Is someone trying to make Amelia leave the farm? What will happen to Max?
Max and Jessie get involved in a new adventure involving a trio of recently-orphaned children, who set up camp on nearby Ghost Island trying to escape deportation back to Mexico. In the meantime, a series of burglaries in town has police concerned that a gang of professional thieves is involved. When the girls get involved to help the orphans, they stumble upon the thieves' camp and are trapped.