Chili Con Carnage Read Online Free Page A

interest. She scampered over, already craning her neck to check out the driver of the RV and whoever else might be inside it. “He’s not supposed to be here until Sunday. That’s when he’s judging the Homestyle category of the cook-off.”
    “That’s when he’s judging Homestyle, but not when he’s arriving. He’s supposed to be here . . .” Nick checked a watch that looked more pricey than a cop should have been able to afford. “He’s going to be here in a couple hours,” he said. “He wants to get some filming done today, before the Showdown gets too crowded.”
    “And this Donnelly character is . . . ?”
    It was the most logical question in the world, so Sylvia had no cause to give me an eye roll. The condescending little laugh she tossed my way along with it didn’t do much for my mood, either. “Come on, Maxie.” I couldn’t help but notice that she stepped closer to Nick at the same time she gave me a look that said she pitied the fool who was me. “Everybody knows Carter Donnelly. He’s got his own cable cooking show, his own restaurant in LA, a string of popular cookbooks, and another new book out that’s about wooing a woman with food. Everybody’s reading it. Everybody’s talking about it. It’s on the best-seller list.”
    “Oh, that Carter Donnelly.” I wouldn’t have known him if I tripped over him, but I wasn’t about to admit that to Sylvia. “I thought it was the other one. You know, the anchor on the network news.”
    “Because you watch network news.” Sylvia’s smile was a mile wide and twice as insincere.
    The last thing she needed was encouragement.
    Which is exactly why I ignored her.
    “Donnelly’s got a new show starting this fall,” Nick said, and since it was pretty obvious Sylvia knew all about this Donnelly character, I knew this was for my benefit. “He’s traveling the country filming what he considers Americana. You know, things like county fairs and cook-offs. He’s going to feature the Showdown on his first show of the season.”
    Good news for the Showdown. Even I knew that much. Celebrity chefs mean attention, and attention means better attendance, and better attendance means more customers for the Palace. If I ever came face to face with Donnelly, I’d have to remember to thank him.
    A middle-aged bald guy jumped out of the RV with a camera on his shoulder. “Just taking a few shots to get things lined up and see how the natural lighting’s going to work,” he said, and when he saw that the vendors around us were suddenly popping up like zits on a fourteen-year-old’s face, he waved them away. “Carter’s not here yet. He will be. And believe me,” he added under his breath, “you’ll know it when he is.”
    “You going to be filming right here?” I asked him.
    He answered without looking away from the viewfinder on his camera. “Here and all over the grounds. Donnelly is particular.” He glanced at me briefly. “I’ll set up the shots now just like I’m supposed to. He’ll show up in a couple hours and want to change them all. Hey—” He shrugged. “It’s a living.”
    I didn’t have to know exactly who Carter Donnelly was to know a publicity opportunity when I saw it. Maybe Sylvia was thinking the same thing. Maybe that’s why when Nick walked away and I hurried over to the RV to clean up and dust off the Chili Chick costume, she was already putting away those bottles she’d lugged over so she could restack the spice jars on the front counter.
    I turned the corner from the Palace to our RV and nearly plowed into the man right in front of me.
    “Roberto!” He was standing directly in my path so I had no choice but to stop on a dime.
    “Hey,
chica
.” Like I said, Roberto was moderately cute and he proved it with a smile that brightened up the long shadows between our RV and the one Carter Donnelly’s peeps had parked next door. “I was hoping I’d see you today.”
    “Here I am.” I tried for a smile, too, but