Dead Man Running by Barry Davis Page B

d for a minute, finally disappearing. 
    The beat return ed as before and the D Lites t ook over again.
    MOOKIE
    Hack him up.
    HAMID
    Back him up.
    MOOKIE
    Hack him up to death.
    HAMID
    Then ya pack him up, him and his bad self.
    MOOKIE
    Hack him up.
    HAMID
    Hack him up to death.
    MOOKIE
    W h ip, w h op, wham.
    BOTH
    Boooy!
     
    Chi leap ed awake , his body drenched in sweat .   He grabbed his shoes but did not place them on his feet.  He would do that later, after he had left the house.

EIGHT
    Chi sat at the kitchen table reading the Times online.  There was ample coverage about the two missing detectives.  Chi was surprised that the cops had not come to the Wiley home looking for their men.  He wondered about this – perhaps they didn't tell anyone where they were headed yesterday, given the high profile of the suspect.
    Jan stepped into the room.  She wore an expensive jacket that Chi recognized as belonging to Mrs. Wiley and, by the smell of things, was wearing the dead woman's perfume.
    " Chi, I have to head out for a minute. "
    Chi looked up from his laptop.  " Don't say head. "
    " Anyway, I have to go home to pick up my dress for Election Day . "
    " Fine.  Where's Wiley ?"
    " He's up in his room resting. "
    " Resting?  But he's dead. "
    " He still needs his rest , silly . "
    Chi shrugged, remembering that he really didn't want to piss off this woman, given the fact that she seemed to be able to control the very dead and very deadly Reverend Wiley.
    " I guess so, it takes a lot out of you, eating two people and all. "
    " Yes, it does.  Try to keep things quiet around here. "
    Jan le ft and Chi return ed to his reading.  He pause d, made sure he heard the Wiley's Benz being started, then driven away.  He gave it ten minutes in case she forg o t some thing.  He took a sip of his coffee, which he had spiked with the reverend's JD.  He took a deep breath, stood and gulped down the rest of his courage .  He went to the basement to retrieve the object he had snuck out to purchase after his disturbing dream.
     
    Jan entered the Arabian Magic Shoppe.  A young woman looked up from the counter as the door chime sounded. 
    "Can I speak to Hamid ?" Jan asked.  She instantly disliked the woman – beautiful in her own right, Jan felt threatened by the young woman's tall, thin frame, swarthy skin, dark luxurious hair, and generous hips and bust.
    "My grandfather is in his back office." She lifted a panel at the end of the counter to allow Jan passage.  "He told me to send you back when you arrived . "
    "How did he know that I would come ?" Jan asked as she stepped past the beauty.
    "This is a magic shop, Ms. Sugerfoot. If you're interested we have a buy one, get one free sale on clairvoyance potions this week."  The woman smiled and Jan's enmity deepened.
    "Just show me where he is," she spat.
    The woman led Jan down a long hallway.  Th e building didn't look this long from outside.  
    She finally reached a white door and knocked twice.
    "Come in," the familiar voice said from inside.  Hamid 's granddaughter opened the door and gestured for Jan to enter.  Once she was inside the door was closed.
    Similar to the hallway, the office was impossibly large.  The floor was marble, the walls trimmed in gold leaf.  Hamid stood behind a desk made of beveled glass.
    "Please have a seat, Ms. Sugerfoot."
    Jan sat in what seemed to her to be an antique chair – or as much of an antique as a girl r ear ed in the South Bronx could recognize.
    "Let me get right to it, Mr…"
    "The last name is Hidar but please call me Hamid ."
    "Do you read the papers or watch television, Hamid ?"
    "I do."
    "So you know that Ben Wiley is polling at around ninety percent in the F ourth D istrict?"
    "Yes, I know that the zombie that I created, that you folks have conspired to impersonate a distinguished politician named Ben Wiley is far ahead in the polls."
    Jan nodded.  "I need to know where you stand, Hamid .  Are you friend or