Rain

Outside of Atlanta, a man wearing a Tyvek suit cleans a house, puts a pot of rice on the stove, turns on the burner, and leaves. In the mountains of North Carolina, Officer Jonah Stapp is on patrol. Officer Kate Percy, his ex-wife, radios to check on William Willis. Jonah drives to the trailer and finds him dead, likely of a drug overdose given his history. Later, Jonah is introduced to Officer Michelle Burke, his new partner. That evening, Jonah reads the local paper and discovers that Layton Sears, the star quarterback of Granite High's class of 1996, was murdered outside of Atlanta.

The next day, Jonah and Michelle work a vehicle accident. Janice Thompson says that someone in a dark truck had caused her to crash. Jonah finds some minor damage at the rear of her car, but also alcohol. Jonah shows compassion for her because of her life situation. Kate informs them that a body has been found. Jonah and Michelle meet Kate in Patrick Tanner's cabin, where Patrick's body hangs from a beam. Patrick also played football with Layton in high school. It appears to be suicide, but Michelle senses something amiss. Jonah notices that the floors appear to have been recently cleaned. Kate interviews Patrick's widow, who says he went to his office the night before to deal with a computer problem. Kate looks for rope at the house, but finds none.

The next morning, Jonah, Michelle, and Kate meet a State Bureau of Investigation agent. There is evidence of foul play. They go to Georgia to learn more about Layton's murder. Detective Carmen Smith reveals that Layton was tortured and castrated. They were both on the football team and both scenes had been cleaned. Jonah wonders if there may be more victims and is concerned about his brother, Michael, whom he only sees occasionally and who played tight end with Layton. That evening, Jonah arrives home and finds Michael parked in his driveway. Michael says he came because western North Carolina is in the path of a developing hurricane, and he could find work helping people prepare or clean up. Jonah informs him about Layton and Patrick.

The next morning, Michelle searches an old team roster looking for suspicous deaths. Jonah goes to see Susie Hicks at the newspaper in order to help jog his memory about 1996. The two standout stories were the disappearance and later discovery of a girl named Rain Hodges and an unsolved shooting of a prominent businessman, Stanton McDonald. Jonah returns to the station, where Michelle has found one death that was an obvious suicide. He shows her a yearbook from 1996 and comes across a picture of the football team staff along with the businessman who was shot.

Jonah and Michelle visit Catherine McDonald and ask about Stanton's death. She tells them how they were big donors for the team, but not as big as Layton's father, Harlan, a business associate of Stanton. She couldn't accept his death as accidental, but she had no proof. Later, Michelle voices her skepticism about Harlan taking care of Stanton's widow, but Jonah thinks she's being cynical. Jonah goes to the cabin that evening, but Michael isn't there, but he finds some strong medication in the bathroom. Michael arrives and Jonah doesn't mention the medicine, instead telling him what they did that day regarding the murder case.

The next day, Jonah and Michelle visit Rain's mother, Mary. Mary didn't believe Rain would have killed herself. She had initially thought it had been Michael, since they were in a relationship. Michelle is surprised by this, but Jonah didn't think it was relevant to their investigation. Mary shows them a letter Michael had left at a memorial Harlan Sears had commissioned for Rain. The letter changed her mind about blaming Michael. Michelle and Jonah find Harlan's involvement intriguing. Susie tells Jonah about another mysterious death of a reporter, James Tulley. She said he was working on something big before his death. Jonah and Michelle go out to meet Jenny Johnson, the widowed sister of James, who mentions that she'd seen Michael at Rain's memorial the prior week. She found James's death suspicious, too. He had told her that what he was working on would hit the town like a landslide. Michelle thinks Harlan may be tying up loose ends from long ago. While the police prepare for Hurricane Helene, the man in the Tyvek suit cleans up after killing the former doctor Pete MacKenzie.

That evening, Jonah, Michelle, and Kate are discussing the cases over dinner when they hear about Pete's death. An officer at the scene tells them about Pete and how he lost his license and did time for selling prescription drugs and steroids. Tom tells them what kind of drugs Pete had sold and that William Willis had been one of his clients in the past. Michelle considers the drugs and wonders if Rain had been sexually assaulted. Jonah goes back to the cabin and begins diagramming the tangled case. Kate and Michelle go to the station to look through Rain's case file. Jonah deduces that James Tulley had found out about Dr. MacKenzie supplying drugs to the team and that Harlan and Layton would have had much to lose. He intends to visit Harlan, but must prepare for Helene. Michelle suspects the Rain Hodges file is incomplete because there is no interview material from Michael.

In the morning, Michelle compliments Jonah on his theory of the case, but believes he is too focused on the other deaths and the drugs to see any connection to Rain. They work on flood preparation. While Jonah is unloading sandbags from Michael's truck, he notices a smear of paint on the truck's rear panel, but thinks nothing of it. Jonah and Michael go to ride out the storm in the cabin, while Kate and Michelle go to Kate's house. Jonah sees what Michael has stored under the cabin. It is typical gear for storm cleanup—chainsaw, shovels, rope, a climbing harness, and Tyvek suits.

Jonah and Michael drink whiskey and watch the rain. Jonah asks Michael why he gave up football. Michael says his scholarship was rescinded due to the accusations and that he left town because of it. He reveals that it was Harlan rigging games, not just steroids, that helped the team make it to state. Jonah deduces that Stanton must have figured it out and had possibly told James, leading to both of their murders. At Kate's, Michelle deduces that Rain had been raped and possibly murdered by Layton.

Jonah asks Michael why he is really there. Michael tells him he has terminal cancer, and the pieces suddenly click into place for Jonah. Michael tells him about killing Layton and Patrick because Layton had drugged Rain and raped her, but the drug had killed her. Layton had gotten the drug from William, who had gotten it from Dr. MacKenzie. As the gravity of the revelation sets in, Jonah becomes sleepy. Michael drugged him.

Michael drives into the storm. Kate radios Jonah and gets no response. Michael arrives at Harlan's cabin on a hillside and is met by Harlan's nurse, who leads him to where he lies in a hospital bed. Harlan recognizes him and knows why he has come—Rain. Michael gets the nurse to leave by showing her a knife. Michael is surprised when Harlan deduces that he has cancer. Harlan explains that he had watched his wife die years ago and now has it himself.

Kate and Michelle arrive at Jonah's cabin, finding him unconscious. They rouse him enough for him to tell them that Michael is going after Harlan. Michael is conflicted. He did not expect to find his nemesis in such a similar situation as himself. Harlan cares little for his reputation, now. There is nothing Michael can take from him. Even killing him would be a favor. Harlan opens a document on his laptop. It is a confession he intended to have sent after his death. He shows it to Michael and then sends it to the local newspaper. Kate and Michelle reach Harlan's cabin. Kate calls to Michael on the loudspeaker and he weighs his options—final revenge or surrender. Kate and Michelle see a rock pass through the spotlight, and the hillside begins to rumble. The cabin disappears in an avalanche of mud and debris. The story ends with Jonah placing a small amount of Michael's ashes at Rain's memorial.