Dead Man Running (4 page)

Hamid
turn
ed
around and face
d
the four.

"
Okay, it's done.
"

Elias face
d
Hamid
, his back to the corpse
.
"
What do you mean, it's done?  He's as stiff as ever.  I'm not paying you.
"

As Elias complete
d
his sentence, Wiley
sat
straight up in the bed.

"
Yo, E.  I think you need to pay the man
," Chi said.

Elias
pivoted slowly on his expensive footwear,
stared slack jawed at the upright Wiley. 

Chi walk
ed
over to Wiley.
  "
Hey, Reverend, good to have you back.
"

Wiley turn
ed
his head to stare at Chi.

"
He can't respond to you
," said
Hamid
. 
"
He can walk, he can look around but that's about it.  The only thing he can say is what he was saying
in the hours
before he died.
  Basically
it will be
random words and phrases.
"

Elias
smiled,
patted his boss on the head. 
He retrieved his campaign credit card from his wallet. 
"
He's a
black
Democrat running for Congress in
Harlem
.  He
doesn't
need to talk.  He just needs to not be dead.
"

Hamid
t
ook
Elias' card and
swiped it with a cell phone
card reader.  He hand
ed
the card back
and had him sign
.
  "
Nice doing business with you.  And there's one more thing.  He might get hungry.
"

Chi nodded.  "
Yeah, yeah.  We'll take care of it.  We'll pick him up a lox and bagel on the way home.
"

"
But...
"
Hamid
tried
but
was cut off by an excited Chi.  "Later, man."

He slammed the door behind the startled ma
gicia
n.

Elias addressed the room. 
Finally it was his time, when he would become
Congressman Elias Turnbull
.  Power – tantalizingly close for so many years – would finally be his. 

"
Nine days
people. 
Nine
days.  We just need to pull this off for
nine
days.  Now let's get the candidate ready to go home to his loving wife.
"

"
Won't she be upset to see him like this?
" Jan asked.

"You've only worked with the reverend a few weeks,
Jan
," Elias replied.  "There ain't much
Mrs. Wiley
really sees
when it comes down to Mr. Wiley
."

Nearly three thousand miles away
Eldina
Thomas doz
ed
in church.  Her granddaughter Tamesha sat at her side and could be counted on to wake
Eldina
at the appropriate moments. 
Eldina
Thomas had worked a double shift yesterday waiting tables and she was exhausted.

She fell into a deep sleep, her head hitting her chest.  In moments she was dreaming and
minute
s later her eyes sprung open
, greatly disturbed
by what she had dreamt.  She rose quickly, patted her granddaughter reassuringly as she slipped out of the pew past fellow members intent on
T
he Word coming from their pastor.

She hustled her tired feet and sore legs up the aisle as fast as she could. 
She held one hand to her mouth. 
One of the nurses dressed in white spoke to her but she ignored the
words
. 

Eldina
reached the bathroom, pounded the door open and pushed her way into a toilet stall.  She got on her knees and vomited into the toilet.

After emptying her stomach she rose and went to the sink.  She washed her face and rinsed out her mouth.  If asked, she would tell them that she was under the weather. 
There was no telling who would be with the monsters and who wouldn't. 

She would tell her Tammy the truth, of course. 

Now that things had begun,
Eldina
Thomas w
ould have to be very careful if
Tamesha w
as
to survive.

The limo s
at
in the alleyway behind the hotel. 
The group
had
dressed
Wiley in his black preacher's suit and
walked him down the back stairs. 
He now sat
in the back
of the silver Mercedes limo
with Jan and Elias.  Chi
was
in the driver
'
s seat.

Jan pressed
herself
against the window to distance her
body
from Wiley
's
.  Wiley's large eyes stare
d
straight ahead.

"
E, do you think we can trust Mookie?
"
Chi asked.

"
Who cares?  Who's going to believe that psycho?  By the time he's done explaining about voodoo
and whip whop wham
, they'll have his ass in a straight jacket in
Bellevue
.
"

A loud
growling
sound
erupted from Wiley
.

"
What the hell was that?
" Chi asked.

"
It sounded like his stomach g
rowling.  Only ten times louder," Elias replied.

"M…maybe we
need to get him something to eat?
"
Jan suggested.

With that, Wiley turn
ed
his head toward Jan.  Jan look
ed
at him and subtly stop
ped
pressing her body against the window.

"
Yeah, we need to stop for a sandwich or something
," Elias said.

Chi start
ed
up the ca
r while still looking at Wiley.  "
As hungry as he looks,
I think
we need to supersize his
shit
."

THREE

Elias use
d
Wiley's key to let himself into the
congressman's upscale brownstone
.  The house
wa
s dripping money, sharply furnished with all that
two decades of misappropriated campaign
funds
c
ould
buy.
 
As Elias enter
ed
the house, Wiley's wife
Eloise
float
ed
down the steps.  She
wa
s a walking fashion plate.

"
Mrs. Wiley, what a pleasure to see you.  You look lovely.
"

"
Elias, are you still taking good care of my husband?
"

"
But, of course.  Only the best for Reverend Wiley.
"

Chi and Jan escort
ed
Wiley into the house.  Chi close
d
the door behind them. 

Mrs. Wiley approache
d
her husband.  She stare
d
at him
with some puzzlement
then smile
d
and kisse
d
him on the cheek. 

Wiley look
ed
straight ahead
, his eyes now settled into a
bug eyed
, finger stuck in the electric outlet
look.

"
Elias, what have you done to my husband?
"

"
Ma'am?
"

"
You've done something to him, haven't you?  There's something different about him.  I just can't put my finger on it.
"

"
Must be his new aftershave.  Eau de death
," Chi said.

Elias stab
bed
Chi with a look.

Mrs. Wiley walk
ed
around her husband.
"
Is that a new suit?
"

Chi and Elias exchange
d
a look.
  "
Only the best for
Harlem
's congressman!
" Chi exclaimed.

"
I knew it!  You can't put anything past me. 
Are y
ou tired Ben, you want me to fix you something to eat?
"

The three staffers stared at Wiley.  His mouth moved like a fish out of water
.  F
inally he spoke. 

"
After I bust this nut, I'll get behind you!
"

Mrs. Wiley blushed, playfully swatted her husband.  "Oh Ben," she said as she smiled like a sixteen year old virgin.  "
Okay, sweetheart.  I'll go
make
some roast beef
sandwiches
for all of you.
"

Mrs. Wiley le
ft
the room.
  Jan watched her leave, incredulous.  "
She doesn't know he's dead?
"

"
Baby, they've been married thirty years.  Mrs. Wiley has
n't noticed him the last twenty," Elias said.

"
Oh.  You've known the
c
ongressman that long?
"

"
Yeah, he saw my potential for politics when he caught
my orphan ass
palming mo
ney from the collection plates."

Eloise
Wiley
poked
her head back into the foyer.
  "
Young lady, could I have your help in the kitchen?
"

Elias
discretely
motion
ed
for Jan to go with Mrs. Wiley.

"
Of course, Mrs. Wiley
," Jan replied.

Mrs. Wiley put her arm around Jan.
  "
You boys have a sit down in the study.  I know you have plenty of politics to talk.  Thi
s
young lady and I will get the food together.
"

In the Wiley study the reverend
stood facing
a corner of the room
. 
Another loud growl emanate
d
from his body
.  Elias and Chi, s
eated
in leather seats in front of a large desk, turn
ed
around to glance at Wiley.

"
Damn, I wish he would stop doing that.  Maybe we need to call
Hamid
.  Find out what he eats.  He sur
e
as hell
didn't touch his Mickey Dee's," said Chi.

"
Forget about that.  He's dead, he doesn't need to eat.
"

"
That's not what his stomach is saying, boss.
"

"
Okay, Chi, let's focus, man.
"  Chi reluctantly placed his eyes on Elias'.
 
"
What's on the
r
everend's itinerary the next
nine
days?"

Chi nimbly call
ed
up the congressman's schedule on his iPad.  "
He's got the candidate prayer breakfast tomorrow morning with the
m
ayor.  They're expecting him to say the
opening
prayer.
"

"
I think he just got laryngitis.
"