Little Secrets

Marin knows that she won’t die by suicide. She promised Derek and the doctors not to hurt herself again. However, hearing about Thomas has upset her. The same thing has happened whenever she’s seen similar reports in the news. After her bath, she leaves Frances a voicemail expressing her condolences. She sits on her bed and starts clicking around on her laptop in search of Sebastian. She told Dr. Chen she wouldn’t do this anymore, but she can’t help herself. She starts telling herself that everything is her fault again. Sometimes she dreams that Sebastian is healthy and safe with a new family, but other times she dreams that he’s dead. She knows if she gets a call like Frances did, she won’t survive.

Castro calls Marin about McKenzie. She’s been watching her ever since she learned about Derek’s affair and just learned that McKenzie is missing. They discuss the possibility that Derek was involved. Marin assures her that Derek has been with her all weekend but agrees to send over the data from the Shadow app regarding Derek and McKenzie’s communications. Castro promises to keep her updated.

Marin goes online and discovers that McKenzie’s roommate posted about McKenzie’s disappearance. Marin also finds it odd that McKenzie hasn’t updated her page. She then texts Sal about meeting up. While getting ready, she notices that her shoes are out of place and finds a taxi receipt in her closet.

Marin and Sal chat in Sal’s office at the bar. She demands to know if Sal contacted Julian about calling off the hit, as McKenzie is missing. Sal seems surprised because he and Julian did discuss the matter. He assures her that she hasn’t done anything wrong and that nothing will be traced back to her. The conversation shifts to Marin and Sal’s relationship. Marin tries to explain that their sexual encounter was a one-time thing and that she and Derek aren’t getting divorced. Sal is hurt and leaves.

Marin attends Thomas’s funeral. She sits with the members of the support group. Everyone agrees that Frances is handling the situation well. Afterwards, they go to Big Holes for a reception. Lila starts talking about her husband’s mistress again. Feeling guilty, Marin excuses herself and goes outside to sit with Frances. Frances shares her feelings about Thomas and the funeral. She wishes Thomas were still alive, but she feels relieved that they found him. Marin comforts Frances but secretly envies the closure she’s gotten.

Marin wakes up and remembers that Sebastian is gone. She feels upset again. She remembers her conversation with Jamie after the funeral. Lying in bed, she compares Jamie’s daughter’s disappearance to Sebastian’s. Sal calls, and they discuss Frances and the funeral. Marin admits that she never wants to see Sebastian “lying in a casket” and will “jump off a bridge” if she learns that he’s dead (270). Sal tries to distract her by talking about Lorna. Marin promises to come visit her soon, but Sal gets upset, insisting that Lorna never wants to see her again after all the pain she has caused him. Sal goes on to say that Marin is selfish and has been using him. He doesn’t want to be friends anymore. Marin is shocked into silence. She remembers a conversation she had with Lorna about Sal Sr.’s angry streak. Lorna had referred to Sal as J.R., which was an abbreviation of “Junior” and the family’s way of distinguishing Sal and his dad. Sal went back to using his given name as an adult.

Marin looks for updates on McKenzie’s whereabouts online. Tyler has filed a missing person report, but no one knows where she is. She stalks McKenzie’s page, discovering that she’s from Prosser and must know Sal, as the town is small. Marin starts wondering if Derek knows more than he’s letting on.

Marin feels distracted while working. After finishing with her client, she reopens the Shadow app and discovers new texts between McKenzie and Derek. Derek received a photo of McKenzie lying bound and bruised on a mattress. The message demanded $250,000 in exchange for McKenzie’s safety. The sender told Derek he didn’t want the same thing to happen to McKenzie as it did to Sebastian. Derek responded, promising to pay the sum.

Marin doesn’t know what to do. She can't call the police or the FBI because of her involvement with Julian. She doesn’t understand what’s happening and wonders if the same person contacted Derek about a ransom for Sebastian. Tired of secrets, she calls the cab company on the receipt she found. The doorbell rings, and Castro appears on Marin’s doorstep. She reveals the new information she’s uncovered. McKenzie has been friends with Sal for years. Castro wonders if they’re involved in the same scheme and suspects that Sal took Sebastian for the money, too. She promises to keep digging, especially after Marin shows her the photo of McKenzie.

Overwhelmed, Marin wonders if she should tell Castro about her communications with Julian. When she alludes to what she did, Castro promises not to turn her in. They make further hypotheses about Julian, Sal, and McKenzie’s illicit activities.

Julian took McKenzie to Sal’s farmhouse after knocking her out. Sal then used makeup to exaggerate her injuries and photographed her bound up. She tries to ask him for explanations about what’s going on. Sal assures her that she’ll get a cut of the ransom money. Suddenly, McKenzie realizes that Sal took Sebastian. He gets angry and tells her never to mention the boy again. During another conversation, she realizes that Marin is the woman that Sal has been in love with for years. She understands that Sal wanted her to be with Derek so he would leave Marin and Sal would have a chance with her again.

Marin confronts Derek about his affair, reveals that McKenzie is missing, and demands to know what’s going on. Derek says he’s going to pay the money to free McKenzie. He then reveals that a month after Sebastian disappeared, someone contacted him about a ransom for their son. They raised the amount to one million dollars after Marin and Derek increased their reward for finding Sebastian. Derek followed the instructions and took the money to the designated location, but Sebastian wasn’t there. The contact emailed him and said he had messed up, and Sebastian was dead. He’s blamed himself ever since. Marin and Derek sob and hold each other.

Marin tells Derek about Castro and shares Castro’s theories about Sal’s involvement in the kidnapping. They go over the details together and decide to go to Prosser as soon as possible.

McKenzie, Sal, and Lorna feign normalcy over dinner. Sal bursts out in anger, revealing that Julian hasn’t contacted him. He and McKenzie guess that Julian took the money and ran. McKenzie scoffs at Sal for conning vulnerable people out of money. He threatens to hurt her, but sirens sound in the distance. Sal races for his gun, but Lorna has it in her robe. She demands that McKenzie get into the cellar. Sal agrees that she should hide because the cops are there for him, not her.

McKenzie finds Sebastian in the cellar alone. He asks if she is his mom.

Castro arrives at the farmhouse with the FBI agents and Marin and Derek. The cops apprehend Sal and attend to Lorna, who Sal shot in the scuffle. Finally, the agents go downstairs and rescue McKenzie and Sebastian. He and Marin race towards each other.

Marin visits McKenzie at the Green Bean. She gives her $250,000 and reveals that she tried to have her killed. She doesn’t agree with what McKenzie did but knows that she did a bad thing, too. She also thanks McKenzie for comforting Sebastian when they were in the cellar together.

Marin takes Sebastian to her support group with her. She feels nervous but is excited to introduce her son to her friends. She talks to them about how things are going. Her life has been better recently. She doesn’t know what will happen with her and Derek, but they’ve been working together to help Sebastian heal. With therapy, he’s been doing better. Feeling sad about Sal, she scrolls through their old texts and realizes that she’s happy to be alive.