It was my turn to be silent. I thought about all that had happened in the past week and suddenly felt ashamed that I had wasted ten years stuck in that meaningless job and doing nothing with my life.

"What next?" I asked, changing the subject.

"I think we've kind of reached the end out here," she replied. "What do you say we head back to Boston? You can pursue the tree angle, and we'll see if that leads anywhere. Meanwhile, I need a day or so to catch up with the publisher. That annoying publicist has left about a million messages for me. First though, we get new phones and I download the app that will let me erase my other phone."

By dinnertime, we were on a plane back to Boston.

Chapter 20

I was sitting with Mo in my living room the next afternoon, bringing her up to date on our trip to the Midwest. I told her everything, except Sabrina's secret past. Even though I knew I could trust Mo to keep it to herself, it would have been an invasion of Sabrina's privacy to tell anyone. I did tell her of our adventure in the alley with Guidry's men and how easily Sabrina had dispatched them. I think I sensed a little envy on Mo's part. There was probably nothing more she'd like to do than to take apart two low-life men piece by piece. Oddly, Mo didn't ask where Sabrina picked up the skills. A secret code amongst bad-ass women? Or maybe she sensed there was more to Sabrina than I was telling and knew it would do no good to ask.

When I finished my story, she said, "Well, it's about fucking time."

"For what?"

"To do something with your life. Look what happened the minute you quit that shit-show you called a job. Your life completely turned around. You found a woman—an incredibly hot woman, by the way—have embarked on a treasure hunt, fought off attackers, and got to spend time in Wahoo, Nebraska. Who else can claim that?"

I had no answer.

"So what's next?" she asked.

"I find a plant or tree expert who can tell me if the tree in the picture really exists, and if so, where?"

"I know someone."

"Of course you do. What's her name?"

"Believe it or not, it's a guy. The husband of a co-worker. Met him at a staff Christmas party. He teaches botany at Boston College. I'll call up Marci and see if I can get you an appointment with him."

"Thanks, Mo."

"Just do me a favor and don't get yourself killed over this. It would be sad if you died just as you finally started living."

After Mo left, I called my mother and gave her a sanitized version of the story. She knew I was holding back some information, but knew better than to ask. She invited me over for dinner and asked if I wanted to bring Sabrina, but I took a rain check. I'd end up spilling the whole story, and I wasn't ready for that.