Rain

We open with a man cleaning a house while wearing a Tyvek suit. He puts a pot of rice on the stove, turns on the burner, and leaves. In the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, Officer Jonas Stapp is on patrol. Officer Kate Percy, his ex-wife, radios him to check on William Willis. Jonas drives to the trailer and finds him dead in the bedroom. The death appears to be natural, though a drug overdose is a possibility, given his history. Later, Jonas is introduced to Officer Michelle Burke, his new partner. That evening, he 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, Jonas and Michelle go out on patrol. Kate informs them of a vehicle accident. Jonas finds Janice Thompson in a ditch. She said someone in a dark truck had caused her to crash. Jonas finds some minor damage at the rear of her car, but also alcohol. After pulling up her information, Jonas shows compassion for her because of her life situation.

Jonas 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's off. Jonas notices that the floors are free of dust, but the furniture is not. Kate interviews Patrick's widow, who says he went to his office the night before to deal with a computer problem and would have had no reason to go to the cabin.

The next morning, Jonas, Michelle, and Kate meet a State Bureau of Investigation agent, who tells them that Patrick's case is now a murder. They decide they must go to Georgia to learn more about Layton's murder. Detective Carmen Smith reveals that Layton was tortured and castrated. They note the very different manner of death from Patrick, but they were both on the football team and there was no forensic evidence at either scene. Jonas wonders if there may be more victims and is concerned about his brother, Curtis, whom he only sees occasionally and who played tight end with Layton.

That evening, Jonas arrives home and finds Curtis parked in his driveway. Curtis says he came because western North Carolina is in the potential cone of a developing hurricane, and he could find work helping people prepare or clean up. Jonas informs him about Layton and Patrick and puts him up in the cabin.

The next morning, Michelle searches an old team roster looking for suspicous deaths. Jonas goes to see Susie Hicks at the newspaper in order to help jog his memory about 1996. She finds some articles about the football season. The two standout stories were the disappearance and later discovery of a girl named Rain Hodges and an unsolved shooting of a prominent businessman. Jonas returns to the station, where Michelle has found nothing they need to investigate. He shows her a yearbook from 1996 and comes across a picture of the football team staff with Stanton McDonald, the businessman who was shot.

Jonas 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 otherwise. Later, Michelle voices her skepticism about Harlan taking care of Stanton's widow, but Jonas doesn't share her cynical view. Jonas goes to the cabin that evening, but Curtis isn't there. Jonas finds a pouch in the bathroom and opens it, seeing some heavy medications inside. Curtis arrives and Jonas doesn't mention the medicine, instead telling him what they did that day regarding the murder case.

The next day, Jonas and Michelle visit Rain's mother, Mary. Mary didn't believe Rain would have killed herself. She had initially thought it had been Curtis, since they were in a relationship. Michelle is surprised by this, but Jonas didn't think it was relevant to their investigation. Mary shows them a letter Curtis had left at a memorial Harlan Sears had commissioned for Rain. The letter changed her mind about blaming Curtis. Michelle and Jonas find Harlan's involvement intriguing. Susie tells Jonas about another mysterious death of a reporter, James Tulley. She said he was working on something big before his death. Jonas and Michelle go out to meet Jenny Johnson, the widowed sister of James, who mentions that she'd seen Curtis 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, Jonas, Michelle, and Kate are discussing the cases over dinner when they hear about Pete's death. They go to the scene. Officer Tom Borden 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. Jonas 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. Jonas 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 he must prepare for Helene. Michelle suspects the Rain Hodges file is incomplete because only the accusations against Curtis are mentioned, but there is no interview material from Curtis himself.

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

Jonas and Curtis drink whiskey and watch the rain. Jonas is thinking about Rain and asks Curtis why he gave up football. Curtis 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 that year. Jonas 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.

Jonas asks Curtis why he is really there. He mentions the medications he found. Curtis tells him he has advanced cancer, and the pieces suddenly click into place for Jonas. Curtis 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 drugs from William, who had gotten them from Dr. MacKenzie. As the gravity of the revelation sets in, Jonas begins to lose consciousness. Curtis drugged him because he had one more mission—Harlan.

Curtis drives into the storm. Kate radios Jonas and gets no response. Curtis arrives at Harlan's cabin on a hillside and is met by his nurse, who leads him to Harlan's room, where he lies in a hospital bed. Harlan recognizes him. Curtis encourages the nurse to leave by showing her a knife. Harlan sees the knife and knows why Curtis has come—Rain. Curtis is surprised when Harlan can tell 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 Jonas's cabin, finding him unconscious. They rouse him enough for him to tell them that Curtis is going after Harlan. Curtis 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 Curtis 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 Curtis and then sends it to the local newspaper. Kate and Michelle reach Harlan's cabin. Curtis walks out into their spotlight. As he reaches them, the hillside gives way, taking the cabin and Harlan with it.