While Dressing My Late Husband for His Funeral, I Found Coordinates Hidden under His Hairline – They Led Me to a Storage Unit I Never Knew Existed

There was just one place left to look.

I pulled at the top drawer; it was locked.

It had never been locked before… had it?

I’d hidden candy in that drawer several times as a surprise for Thomas. I’d left grocery lists on top of the desk. I had walked past it ten thousand times without a second thought.

“Why would you lock this?”

There was only one way to find out. I returned to his briefcase and fetched the key I’d found earlier.

It had never been locked before… had it?

Minutes later, I slid the key into the lock and opened the drawer.

An envelope slid forward.

I lifted it, but it was empty. There were no letters, either. Not that I was surprised. Thomas always said paper could be destroyed, and digital files erased. No wonder he tattooed those coordinates onto his skin; what could be less infallible than that?

I reached around inside, feeling for that storage unit key.

That’s how I found the secret compartment.

I noticed the wood panel right at the back didn’t sit flush with the frame. My fingers found the edge. It shifted, revealing a small hidden compartment, maybe four inches deep.

I stared at it for a long time before I reached in.

That’s how I found the secret compartment.

My fingers closed around something small, hard, and cold. I pulled it out.

“There you are!”

I held up the key. The number stamped on it said 317.

***

The next morning, I drove to the storage facility alone.

My hands were steady when I stepped out of the car, but they were trembling by the time I slid the key into the lock.

It all looked oddly normal at first.