Tourist Season

Harper wakes up next to Nolan in her bed at home. She shakes him awake when she notices he is sweating and convulsing. Nolan was having a nightmare. The two spent the last several days in the hospital while Harper recovered from the accident. Some townspeople visited her, but “it was Nolan who stayed” by her bedside the whole time (292).

The lovers lie next to each other, discussing the near-drowning incident and the bodies they have yet to exhume from the Ballantyne property. Finally, they express their feelings for each other and share a passionate kiss. Harper wants to have sex, but Nolan is worried about hurting her. They engage in sexual foreplay, talking intimately throughout the encounter.

Afterward, Nolan leaves to give Harper time to rest. She lies in bed, worrying that Sam will endanger Nolan. She texts Lukas about Nolan’s bag; she wants to return it to him so that Sam doesn’t draw a connection between her and Nolan and turn Nolan over to the FBI. Lukas is out of town, so Harper will have to deal with the bag issue alone.

Harper heads into Arthur’s basement to retrieve Nolan’s bag. The space reminds her of where Harvey kept her, Adam, and Sloane. When she finally emerges, Arthur notices that she is visibly upset and comforts her.

Nolan returns to Harper’s cottage that evening, but she isn’t there. He runs into Arthur wandering around the cottage in a state of confusion. Arthur explains that he is looking for his black bag, which Harper has been safekeeping for him, and requests Nolan’s help finding it. Nolan thinks he is just elderly and confused, and obliges him. He retrieves and returns the bag to Arthur. A thrilled Arthur bounds away from the house with gratitude.

Nolan finds Harper landscaping elsewhere on the property. He studies her as he approaches, musing on her beauty and his love for her. Harper is surprised to see him, but she gets upset when he relays what happened with Arthur. She realizes Arthur is up to no good and insists they need to track him down; she guesses he is at the cemetery. Before leaving, she gives Nolan his bag back. Nolan still doesn’t understand “why she chose to leave Billy and [him] on the road” but realizes he doesn’t need to know anymore (316).

Nolan and Harper head to the Lancaster plot at the cemetery. They find Arthur lying on the ground next to a lifeless man’s body. Arthur’s murder kit is strewn around them. A distressed Arthur confuses Harper for his late daughter Poppy. Harper settles him and shepherds him out of the cemetery and back to the manor.

Meanwhile, Nolan packs up his things at the inn. He gathers supplies so he can dispose of the dead man’s body at the cemetery. On his way out of the inn, he runs into Sam. Sam apprehends him, threatening to expose Nolan and Harper if he doesn’t cooperate.

Harper worries when she doesn’t hear back from Nolan. She goes to the inn, but his car is missing. Then she heads to the cemetery and finds the dead body still there. Panicked, she wonders if Nolan abandoned her. She can’t believe she let herself fall for him. Standing over the headstone Arthur gave her to commemorate Adam, she tells herself she can survive Nolan’s betrayal. She deals with the stranger’s body and then heads back to the inn.

Nolan’s room is entirely empty. She does not understand where he would have gone or what could have happened. She is convinced that he duped her until she discovers that he did not check out at the front desk. In the inn parking lot, she overhears Vinny talking on the phone. He mentions Lancaster Distillery and Nolan; Harper understands that Nolan is in Sam’s custody. She knocks Vinny unconscious, vows to save Nolan’s life, and races toward the distillery.

Sam has Nolan tied up at the distillery. Sam interrogates him, demanding to know why he killed Dylan, Marc, Trevor, and Jake. When Nolan reveals nothing, Sam asks about Harper; he understands her connection to the hit-and-run that killed Billy.

Suddenly, Harper barges in and incites an argument with Sam. Nolan uses the moment of distraction to hit Sam with the chair he’s taped to. The lovers attack Sam and push him over a railing to his death. Harper and Nolan are relieved. They profess their love and flee the premises just as an unknown driver appears at the scene.

From the distillery, Nolan and Harper race to the inn, sweep Sam and Vinny’s rooms for evidence connected to Harper and Nolan, and return to Lancaster Manor to stash it. Instead of feeling afraid, Nolan is invigorated. In the cottage, the lovers have aggressive, passionate sex, using ropes and bondage. Nolan pierces Harper’s nipple during intercourse; both lovers are aroused by the experience.

After they have sex, Harper falls asleep. Nolan creeps out. He still has the coordinates for the low tides Sam left behind. The tide is going down this morning, and he wants to see what it reveals. Down at the beach, he discovers the top of a van peeking out of the water. He dives into the water and studies the vehicle, memorizing the VIN.

Nolan returns to the inn and googles the van’s VIN, tracing it back to an Adam Cunningham. He continues his research and discovers that Adam was dating a woman named Autumn Bower. He realizes the meaning behind the  charm he found: Autumn is Harper’s real name and identity. He finds photos and videos of her online that show that she and Adam were living out of the van. Autumn had a social media channel documenting their lives, and then, they went missing.

As he pieces her story together, Nolan feels ashamed of himself for how he’s treated Harper all these weeks. He continues his research and soon discovers that the Sleuthseekers are mobilizing because Sam and Vinny have stopped posting.

Sheriff Yates barges into the distillery, where he finds Sam’s body on the ground. He encounters Vinny and demands to know why he is there. Vinny reveals that Sam had Nolan in his custody, but he doesn’t know where Nolan is now. He insists that Nolan is a murderer, Harper is using a fake identity, and Arthur is tied to La Plume. An amused Yates reveals that he is La Plume.