Free Revenge of the Chili Queens by Kylie Logan

wouldn’t go for it. She didn’t. “Then how about an impartial third party to count the money?” I suggested. I glanced to the tent next to ours, and when Ginger looked our way, I waved her over.
    She was resplendent that night in a figure-hugging flamenco gown the color of hot lava. It had a deep vee neckline and ruffles on the sleeves and a layered skirt that flared out just below Ginger’s knees, like a mermaid’s tail. I didn’t know where these queens got their costumes, but they must have cost a fortune, and I had to give her credit; she wore it with sass and style. Tonight, Ginger’s hair was piled atop her head, and her makeup—just like the night before—was flawless.
    In the cheap costume-shop wig I’d picked up in the Halloween aisle of a local discount store, I felt second-rate.
    “What can I do for you?” Ginger asked, and I explained.
    “Thank goodness!” She exhaled a minty breath. “Helping you out will give me a break from Teddi.” She glanced over her shoulder to where, that evening, Teddi was dressed in a knee-length, slim-fitting dress and an apron decorated with drawings of brightly colored, old-fashioned kitchen appliances. Her red lipstick matched her nail polish and her snood. “She’s acting like a crazy woman! She has been all night,” Ginger added. Stepping to where I motioned her, she sat down and got to work, and a few minutes later when she called me over, it was with a look that was half envy and half wow-am-I-impressed.
    “You collected so much in tips!” Ginger showed me the sheet of paper where she’d added up the numbers. “Morethan one hundred fifty dollars so far, and the night is still young. Honey, your chili must rank up there with the best of the best. All of last night, Teddi and I only managed to bring in sixty-seven dollars.”
    It wasn’t like I was trying to make the drag queens looks bad, but hey, I couldn’t help it, could I? I scooped up the tips, put them in an envelope, and sealed it. Then Sylvia and I both signed the flap. Yeah, I know, we were being a little too obsessive, but when it came to our bet, I wasn’t going to take any chances that some of that tip money would mysteriously disappear just so Sylvia could make herself look good and get that day off that I was already daydreaming about.
    “So . . .” Ginger agreed to hold on to the tip envelope for us, and she tucked it under her arm. “Any word yet? About the murder? I’ll tell you what, everybody who walks into our tent is buzzing about it. Has there been an arrest?”
    Automatically, I scanned the plaza again.
    Still no sign of Nick.
    “I sure hope not,” I told Ginger. I didn’t bother to explain and she was too much of a lady to ask what I was talking about.
    “Well, it gives me the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it.” A shiver ran across her shoulders and twitched those ruffles on her sleeves. “The police came around when we were setting up and talked to us, and just thinking that there was a murder so close to where we’re standing, well, I just about fainted.”
    Ginger was pretty tall, and I had to duck to one side tolook past her and toward the tent where she and Teddi were working. “What about her?” I asked. “Is that how Teddi feels, too?”
    “You’d think she wouldn’t. You know, when she’s not Teddi, she’s Teo and Teo works down at the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office. Not doing autopsies or anything.” Another shudder danced over those broad shoulders that looked so perfect with Ginger’s narrow waist and rounded-just-enough hips. “When he’s there, he’s one of the people who counsels grieving families. I don’t know about you, but that tells me when she’s here as Teddi, well, you’d think she’d be plenty used to death.”
    “And she’s not?”
    “Like I said, she’s been a crazy woman all night! Jumping at every little sound. Looking like she’s about to burst into tears at any moment. You know, we do these sorts of