Santa Clawed

greater jaws and more pressure per square inch, clamped onto her gun hand, biting so hard she severed a tendon and ripped through other muscles. Her grip shredded, Racquel dropped the gun. The mighty little corgi grabbed it in triumph and gave it to Harry. Harry quickly turned it on Racquel, who was still trying to swat away the cats.
    “Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, let her go,” Harry commanded.
    “Oh, pooh,”
Pewter fussed, for her bloodlust was up.
    Mrs. Murphy ripped out her claws. Pewter, knowing she had to as well, did, but not without the satisfaction of noticing some tiny bits of flesh dangling from them.
    Rick and Cooper, who had followed from a distance so as not to provoke Racquel to harm Harry, now rushed forward.
    Rick took back his gun.
    Harry, wisely, said nothing.
    Cooper had Racquel on her feet. The woman’s well-tended face was bleeding all over her and the floor, and her right hand shook with pain.
    “Folks, after Sheriff Shaw puts Racquel in the squad car, best you all return home or to your hotels.” Miranda, now out of the kitchen, took charge.
    Coop called out to Harry, “Go home. I’ll catch up with you later.”
    Harry knelt down to thank her animal friends, then stood up to follow Cooper’s orders.
    Jean seconded Alicia’s request. “People, none of us knows what’s going on. Please go. I’ll call you if I know anything.” She turned to Alicia. “I’ll stay with the boys until their grandparents get here. They said they’d be coming by at about five.”
    Once out the door, Pewter puffed up.
“She didn’t have a chance.”
    “Yes, Rocky.”
Mrs. Murphy smiled.

H urrying home after his wife called and thankful that no equine emergencies had sprung up, Fair blew through the door. “Honey! Honey, where are you?”
    “In the living room.”
    He walked in to find Harry stretched out on the couch, two cats on her chest and one corgi on her feet. “Don’t get up. Tell me everything.”
    “I will. Could you bring me something to drink? I’m a little shaky. I don’t have a scratch on me except for my head, but that doesn’t count.”
    “I’ll bring you some hot tea with lemon and a tiny touch of something special.”
    Harry rarely drank, but Fair thought a dollop of good whiskey wouldn’t be amiss. As he heated the water, Coop drove up.
    Once in the house, Cooper closed the door and leaned against it.
    “Harry, bless you.”
    “Drink?” Fair was anxious to know what had happened.
    “Beer. I want a big, fat, cold beer.”
    He opened the refrigerator and handed her a St. Pauli Girl, her favorite.
    Within minutes all were seated in the living room, Harry upright now, her feet on the coffee table.
    Cooper first told them about visiting the monastery and the forlorn abandoned brothers who’d been locked into their rooms, except for Brother Luther, who’d been knocked out. “As it happens, the North Carolina state police picked up the perps as they headed for the coast. Brother Morris wanted the others to disperse, but no one trusted him to give them the money once they were safe. A falling-out among thieves.” She half-smiled, then took a sip. “And Brother Luther and Brother Howard were right: Brother Morris had a separate account; he was definitely blackmailing men. But he’s not a killer.”
    “Good Lord,” Fair exclaimed.
    “Where does Racquel come in?” Harry burst with curiosity.
    “Bryson had had affairs at the hospital. The ones she initially pounced on over the years were with women. But as time went on, he couldn’t submerge his true nature. She sensed it. Over the last year and a half, his constant visits to the monastery for ‘medical reasons’ sent her red flags up. She started snooping. He really did think he was smarter than anyone else, didn’t take too many precautions. He assumed no one would dream he had fallen in love with Speed. Racquel found condoms, the occasional cryptic note in what seemed to be a man’s handwriting. Bryson made two fatal mistakes: he underestimated his wife, and he fell in love with Speed. At least that’s what Racquel says.
    “Racquel initially thought he was in love with Christopher.” Cooper took a breath. “She was so humiliated that her husband was sleeping with a man that she lost it. She confronted him. He denied it.”
    “Did she overpower them in some fashion?” Fair asked.
    “No. Racquel is very attractive. She offered herself to them. Remember, both men like women, or liked them. All she had to do was