Instead, I busy myself looking through the drawers. For a man so big on security, it’s a wonder he doesn’t leave the drawers more tightly guarded. They open easily, but at first, all I find are letterheads and envelopes, nothing very interesting or worthwhile. I go to the next drawer, then the next, and my frustration only grows. Paper clips, a stapler. There has to be something—this desk could belong to anybody in the entire world. It’s so impersonal. Doesn’t he store anything worthwhile in here?

It’s when I get to the deep bottom drawer that things start getting more interesting. It’s full of hanging file folders, paperwork, that kind of thing. I don’t have time to go through all of it, and I’m not sure I’d know what I was reading even if I did. Still no key. Maybe he keeps keys in his bedroom, but I don’t dare go in there. I’d have to walk past the guys’ rooms, for one thing. What I’m doing right now is already dangerous enough.

I’m about to close the drawer when something catches my eye. At the bottom of the drawer, underneath the file folders, there’s a picture. Half a picture, actually, which I carefully lift before seeing the other half of the picture underneath it. It’s the fact that it seems so out of place that convinces me to pick up both halves of the photo and put them together, laying them on the desk and lining up the torn edges until the full image reveals itself.

It’s a woman. Smiling wide, she’s dressed in a tracksuit and standing in front of a balance beam.

And I know her. Well, not really, but I recognize her. She was a coach, a gymnastics coach. I met her once at a tournament years ago—her girls were tough, well-trained, and disciplined. But instead of coming off hard and cold, the way I expected, she was warm and encouraged her team. I remember thinking it seemed like she actually cared about them. Too many coaches inspired their gymnasts by being bullies, thinking that would push them just a little bit harder, a little bit closer to winning. But no, her girls were at the top of the leaderboard, even when she seemed to take a soft, almost motherly role. I actually wished she was my coach at one point when she gave a gentle hug to a girl who fell off the beam twice during her routine.