Ghost Hunter

Chapter 21

THE SMALL, INDIVIDUALLY WRAPPED PACKETS WERE packed neatly inside the three cardboard boxes stacked inside the old storage closet. The boxes were labeled Toilet Tissue, which struck Cooper as oddly appropriate under the circumstances.

He let himself out of the closet. The two-hundred-year-old basement was walled and floored with stone, but water had seeped in, as water always did in such places, creating a damp, moldy atmosphere.

Water was not the only thing that trickled into the large, dark space, he noticed. A lot of stray psi energy permeated the atmosphere down here, too. Not surprising, given the proximity of the Dead City Wall. Probably a hole-in-the-wall somewhere in the vicinity, just as Elly had suggested.

He used the flashlight to make his way back to a heavy wooden door that looked as if it had been there since the building was constructed.

Opening the door, he went up the old, cramped staircase.

At the top of the staircase, he paused to listen intently for a moment before opening another door and moving into the janitorial storage room.

The shelves were crowded with cleaning supplies, cartons of industrial-sized rolls of toilet tissue, and paper towels.

He crossed the room, selected a few rolls of paper towels, and let himself out into the hall.

The janitorial carl was waiting right where he had left it. He grabbed the handle and went down the corridor and around the corner to a private elevator marked Executive Offices.

Finding the stash of drugs had been easy, he thought. Maybe too easy.