Chasing Tomorrow

“I’m fine. I’m sorry I disappeared on you. I’m in Bulgaria.”

“I know. In Plovdiv.”

This brought Tracy up short.

“I’m here too.”

“You are? Thank God! Have you found Jeff?” For the first time, her voice started to crack.

“No. Not yet. Where are you, Tracy?”

“At the amphitheater.”

The amphitheater! “The stage of history.” Of course.

“Are you alone?”

“I am now.”

“But Daniel Cooper was there?”

“Yes. He was. He tried to . . .” Despite herself, Tracy started to cry. “I fought him off. I think he’s dead, Jean.”

“Christ. Okay, stay where you are, Tracy. I’m on my way.”

“NO!” The vehemence in her voice took Jean by surprise. “Forget me! I’m fine. We have to find Jeff. There may not be much time.”

“Okay, okay. Calm down.”

“No, Jean. You don’t understand. Cooper’s done something to him. Hurt him. I tried to get him to tell me where he was, but I . . . I couldn’t. Jeff’s out there somewhere, alone, maybe dying. We have to find him.”

Jean Rizzo took a breath. “What did Cooper say? Exactly?”

“Nothing that meant anything. It was just . . . religious rambling. He was semiconscious.”

“But he said something?”

“He said Golgotha. Golgotha, Golgotha . . . Place of the skull . . .” Tracy closed her eyes, trying desperately to remember. “It was all about the crucifixion. He said Jeff was being sacrificed for my sins, just like the women he killed. He said he killed them all for me. That it was my fault.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Tracy.”

“Death on the cross, death on the hill . . . something about a lamb . . .”

“Wait.” Jean Rizzo interrupted her. “I remembered something. There was an incident today. A farming hamlet, up in the hills outside the city. Someone reported hearing screams. The local police checked it out but said there was nothing but sheep up there.”

Tracy’s mind whirred into life.

Sheep.

Lambs.

The hill.

“What’s the name of the hamlet, Jean?”

“I can’t remember. Oreshak or Oreshenk or something like that. I’ll find it. You just stay there, Tracy, okay? I’m sending someone to get you. An ambulance.”

“Are you out of your mind? I’m not staying here! And I don’t need an ambulance. How far is the place, Jean? Jean?”