When Passion Lies: A Shadow Keepers Novel by J. K. Beck Page A

town.”
    “I think it’s highly likely.”
    “Zermatt gets a lot of tourists,” Everil said, and unfortunately, the little guy was right.
    “Hopefully this tourist made himself known. We have two possibilities. Either our killer knew about the rendezvous point, or the killer simply knew Reinholt was going to be in town.”
    Everil nodded seriously. So seriously, in fact, that Gabriel was a bit surprised he didn’t whip out a pad and start taking notes. “So which scenario are we hoping for?”
    “The second,” Gabriel said. And then, because he was suddenly possessed by the spirit of his third-grade teacher, he added, “Do you know why?”
    Everil’s forehead furrowed, his slightly pointed ears wriggling. “Because then the killer would have to look for him?”
    “Got it in one.”
    And since Zermatt was, for better or worse, a heavy tourist establishment, the taverns seemed like the best bet for starting their inquiries. They’d gone to the first two together, but with this third one, Everil had wanted to go in alone to test out his newly honed investigative mojo.
    And that was how Gabriel had found himself standing still in the cold outside the oddly named Lone Star Tavern, wondering what the hell was going on in there.
    He took another drag on his cigarette and considered going inside. He decided against it, though. Let Everil try his luck. The junior detective was certainly eager enough.
    Gabriel stood for another ninety-seven seconds, then dropped his cigarette, crushed the butt into the snow with the toe of his boot, and marched toward the tavern entrance. Everil deserved a chance, sure, but Gabriel was freezing his ass off.
    Like all the bars on the Bahnhofstrasse, the tavern was dark and woody, managing to be both atmospheric and inviting. Give the human tourists a sense of being somewhere different, a glimspe of something more than just the urge to drink and ski and fuck that had lured them to this tiny tourist town in the first place.
    From behind the bar, Tex looked up, then waved Gabriel over. “Usual?” the expatriate asked in his broken German.
    For form—because he so rarely got to do it in this sleepy town—Gabriel flashed his badge.
    “Well, look at that,” Tex said, switching to his native English. “Little Gabe’s all grown up. How come you never told me you were a cop? And both of us from the same great state.”
    “You running anything illegal through the pub?”
    “Shit, no.”
    “Then you didn’t need to know, did you?”
    From Tex’s expression, he was less than thrilled with that explanation, but he knew better than to push it. “You’re not the only one playing cop in here tonight.”
    “Didn’t think I was.” He slid onto one of the stools, then tapped the counter. When his usual appeared, he took a long swallow, then glanced around, looking for Everil. “Where’d he go?”
    “Thought he went to the john, but I’m thinking now he slipped out the back. Probably wanted to see the scene of the crime.”
    Gabriel cocked his head. “What crime?”
    “Some guy got stabbed back there last night. I was gonna call the cops, honest, but he begged me not to.”
    Gabriel was only half listening. While unusual in Zermatt, human crimes weren’t his jurisdiction. “Stabbed?”
    “Punctured, really. Two jabs in his neck. Like some idiot got him with a barbecue fork.”
    That
caught Gabriel’s attention. And explained Everil’s disappearance. “The other cop who was in here, did you tell him about this?”
    Tex squinted at Gabriel. “You’re both cops. Why don’t you ask him?”
    “He’s my partner, and I will. Why don’t you tell me now?”
    “Partner, huh?” Tex shrugged. “He’s an odd one. Freaky aura.” Tex was as human as they came, andGabriel doubted he could see an aura if one reached out and slapped him.
    “That a fact? And what’s my aura like?”
    Tex snorted. “Gabe, if I told you how weird the shit floating around you is, we probably wouldn’t