The following morning, Jonah walked over to the coffee shop to show Melisa his text message.

            She asked, “Jonah, what the hell did you do?”

            “I don’t know, but whoever this is knows about it.” he replied.

            Melisa then said, “Like I said last night, whoever fucks with my friends has fucked with me. Jonah, I know you’ve got your own personal demons. I do too, but unless you talk with Dom about them, you’re screwed because of Z.”

            Anna then walked in the door while Jonah and Melisa were in the middle of their conversation.

            “What happened after I left yesterday night?” asked Anna.

            Melisa replied, “Noemi’s family except her brother died, and there’s been some rather threatening text messages.”

            “Are you serious?” Anna asked next.

            “Yes, we are. It’s pretty bad.” Jonah replied.

            Anna then said, “Fucking hell. At least Dominic isn’t alone in this chaos. It’s heartbreaking knowing that Noemi has only her brother left.”

            Melisa chimed in, “Dom has pretty much no immediate family. He barely sees or talks with his aunt and uncle anyways.”

            “Shit.” replied Anna.

            The three awkwardly talked the morning away while Jonah and Melisa filled Anna in on the remaining events from the previous night. On the other side of town, Dominic and Willa were in his new bedroom talking about the text from Z.

            “Who would even threaten us with a text like that?!?” asked Willa.

            Dominic replied, “Someone who knows what deep, dark secrets we have or our families have.”

            Willa then said, “I do wonder if my mom is keeping some secrets.”

            “We all have them, simple ones or not.” said Dominic.

            “So, what do we do when Noemi gets to the coffee shop? Twiddle our thumbs?” Willa then asked.

            Dominic then replied, “No, we’ll ask her what she did about the text or Z itself. And lord knows what other secrets may be lurking about in her personal life.”

            Willa said, “True, but I want you to know this... my dad’s death wasn’t what they police reports said, which was suicide.”

            “Are you fucking kidding?!? What really happened?” asked Dominic.

            “My mom went to the scene before he died. Just as she was about to turn the car back on, she heard gunshots.” said Willa.

            “Fuck.” said Dominic.

            Willa continued, “She ran back to where my dad was, and found him with a hole in his head. When she looked up from his body to call the police, she saw a person in a black hoodie run off.”

            “Just like who my mom saw before she died.” replied Dominic.

            “Do you think my dad was killed by the same person?” asked Willa.

            Dominic replied, “I think it’s a stretch, but it’s possible.”

            Noemi then burst through the bedroom door along with Jonah and the trio’s usual coffee order.

            “Babe, I got a text last night as I was walking home. I want you and Willa to look at it.” said Jonah.

            As Dominic and Willa looked at the text, Noemi told them that she had seen it after she went to the coffee shop and stopped to talk to Jonah and Melisa. Jonah mentioned that Anna had been frightened by what they had told her.

            “So we’re screwed?” asked Willa.

            Dominic replied, “No. We’re going to find out who this Z person is and confront them. I don’t care if we have collateral in the form of other people. We just need these texts to end.”

            “Drink your coffee bitch. We’re gonna need to figure out these potential secrets sooner or later.” said Noemi.

            Dominic and Willa looked at each other with bewildered looks as Jonah and Noemi began to speculate about who Z could be. Just as they were about to name a potential suspect, Willa then asked them a question.

            “Shouldn’t you wait until we start going around doing some detective work? We need time to figure out a lead.” said Willa.

            Dominic then said, “She’s not wrong. We don’t have plenty of time to dilly-dally here. Whoever Z may be, they could possibly be plotting something a lot worse.”

            Jonah asked, “So, who should we start talking to about secrets?”

            “Each other, actually.” said Noemi.

            Willa shuddered as she then told Jonah and Noemi about what happened to her father the night he died.

            “He was murdered, wasn’t he?” asked Noemi.

            “That’s what Mom and I think.” replied Willa.

            The group then decided to disband for the afternoon and regroup in the barn later that night. As they walked out of the house and went their separate ways for the day, Noemi opened up the trunk of her car and found a blood-soaked grey hoodie, photos of a dead body, and a note which she immediately read.

"Welcome to the joint family secret, bitch."

            She screamed, and Jennifer ran over to see what the fuss was about.

            “Noemi, are you okay?” asked Jennifer.

            Noemi then pointed to the trunk of her car. Jennifer looked in and then proceeded to call the others. Once they got back, Dominic, Jonah, and Willa looked into the car trunk and were equally horrified and perplexed.

            “Why the photos of a dead body?” asked Willa.

            “Screw that. Who broke into Noemi’s car when she wasn’t looking?” Jonah then asked.

            Noemi then replied, “The only other person that has a key to my car is Anna, and then again, she only drives my car around the campus parking lot. She doesn’t do anything stupid.”

            Jennifer said, “Let’s close the car up and head inside. We don’t need to cause a scene.

            The group then went back inside the house where Felicity, Willa’s mother was waiting for them. She proceeded to tell them she saw what happened out the living room window. Willa proceeded to ask her about the photos of the dead body, which Felicity had little response other than saying she never saw anything. While the group was mid-conversation, Noemi received a call from the police that her family’s bodies and her living brother were finally back in town. She cried with grief as the rest of them consoled her and took her to the hospital to reunite with her brother. Jennifer offered to drive them all in her SUV, which they all agreed to.