The Trap
By R.C. Stankewitz
Copyright© 2007 All Rights Reserved
No reposting without permission


The Trap

Chapter 3

“Relaxing”

The pair got back into their rental car and headed back to their motel with William behind the wheel this time. Looking in his mirror to see if anybody was following them, he made a general comment.

“I’m sorry Tom, your driving straight up scares me.”

The smallish man thought about this for a while without saying anything. William was beginning to think he had upset his partner with his last comment.

“I didn’t mean it in a nasty way” William said, looking to see if he got a response.

Tom shrugged his shoulders as he said “You know, my last girlfriend said the same thing. Maybe I do drive a little too fast.”

“Yeah, you do drive too fast, Tom. You need to slow down and enjoy the scenery.” Tom nodded in agreement. He thought he would have to try to drive a little slower from now on.

The pair returned to their motel room and changed into some comfortable clothes for hanging out on the beach.

“So...where are we going?” Tom asked, putting on some sunblock.

“I thought we might go down and hang out at the Beach Side Hotel and enjoy the scenery.”

Tom nodded in agreement. The two of them sorely needed some downtime and there was no better way to relax than on the beach.

“I think that this evening will be a treat, if you ask me” Tom offered up, switching sunglasses to his favorite girl watching pair.

“Yeah, I think so too” his partner responded, a small smile beginning to creep across his muzzle. The duo got back into their rental car and drove over to the nearest parking area by their destination.

“So...this is it?” Tom asked, finding a vacant table near the beach to sit at.

“Yeah, I like to hang out here when I come down this way” the hybrid responded, making himself comfortable as he checked the time on his watch.

After a few moments, a waiter appeared to take their order.

“I’ll have a large cola please” the hybrid said, giving the waiter a smile.

“Make mine a beer, please” Tom said, putting on some more sunblock even though they were sitting in the shade. He rubbed in the lotion and then turned to look at William.

“I got to know, guy. What did you do in the Marines that you knew what an LCAC was?”

The hybrid looked over the top of his glasses at his partner.

“Tom, if I told you I’d have to kill you. Let’s just leave it at that.”

The humanoid wasn’t happy with that answer so he pressed on.

“Come on William. I’ve known you for what...6 years now. Give me a straight answer, please?”

The hybrid took off his sunglasses, leaned forward and gave Tom a very serious look.

“OK, if you really want to know. You know when something bad happens and they send in the Rangers or Seals to ‘fix’ the problem?”

Tom nodded, noting that his partner was dead serious by now.

“Well, my detachment would go in and ‘fix’ things when the Rangers or Seals screwed up.”

Before Tom could say anything, William looked at him with a grave look on his muzzle.

“Officially, we didn’t exist. We were the ‘Black Ops’ detachment. If we got caught in the act, it was just plain old tough luck. The government would deny that we existed in a heartbeat.”

The look on William’s face said it all; the hybrid had obviously seen and did things that would make Tom’s guts churn.

“That’s enough, William. I didn’t hear that.” The humanoid said, turning to look at the beach. Tom hoped his beer that was coming would settle his stomach. It was feeling just a little queasy right now.

The waiter brought the pair their drinks and they sat there for a while, enjoying the sights and sounds of the beach. Tom was still thinking about what William had told him when an equine hybrid female caught his eye. She was strolling up the beach, smiling and sipping on a drink with an umbrella in it. She was quite tall and slender, and definitely very pleasing to Tom’s eyes.

Her coat, mane and tail were white but Tom knew that the dark skin around her nostrils, lips and ears meant she was actually considered gray. He knew this because his partner had drilled equine coat color lessons into his head practically since they had met. This female equine also possessed the most beautiful blue eyes he had ever seen on a hybrid. It certainly didn’t hurt that the black bikini and colorful wrap she wore around her waist accentuated her curves just so. She winked as she turned and headed in their direction, still smiling.

‘Oh No’ Tom thought, sure that the lady was either coming over to flirt with him or slap him for blatantly staring at her.

As she drew closer, she sat her near-empty drink on a convenient table. William stood up and walked over to her, giving her a big hug. Tom was getting just a little confused as the female gave his partner a peck on the cheek and walked with him back to the table, allowing William to hold her chair as she sat down.

“This is my cousin Lisa Marie Delaney” William said, sitting back down in his chair. “Lisa, this is Tom Hughes.”

The smallish humanoid barely croaked out “Nice to meet you” before having to take a big swig of his beer.

The female nodded as she said “Nice to meet you, too.”

After Tom got his composure back, he looked at his partner who was grinning like the Cheshire cat. “Why didn’t you tell me that we were meeting somebody?”

The hybrid gave Tom an innocent look as he said “I’m sorry. I must have forgotten to tell you.”

“Forgot to tell me my eye!” the smallish man shot back. “You like to pull this on me all the time!”

“All right, no fighting you two” Lisa said, smiling at them. “I’m sorry, Tom. This was William’s idea to meet up with one another. I don’t get to see him much so I went along with his scheme.”

Tom looked over to see that his partner was still giving him that innocent look.

“OK, I forgive you Lisa. As far as William goes, I’m not sure. He’s been a little stinker here lately” Tom quipped, trying to hide his embarrassment.

Tom looked at Lisa for a moment before he asked what was on his mind.

“I thought William had told me that you were married. Why are you using your maiden name?” The small humanoid felt bad as he saw a hint of sadness wash across the hybrid female’s muzzle.

“I guess that William didn’t tell you, then” She replied. “I was married to John Parseghian, the former owner of the Beach Side Hotel. When I transformed, he divorced me. The lowlife scumbag said he couldn’t love a hybrid, even if it was his wife. I went back to using my maiden name when the courts gave me the hotel in the divorce.”

Tom nodded his head as he said “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t be sorry” the female said. “I was in the Naval Reserves at the time and every time I came home after serving my weekend duty, I felt something was wrong.” Lisa took a moment to regain her composure before she continued. “I later found out he was cheating on me when I was away. That’s how I got the hotel and half of everything he’ll make for 20 years.”

“Enough sad stuff already” William said. “Lisa had graciously asked us to have dinner at the hotel tonight so I’m thinking we had better get ready fairly soon. She also has somebody lined up for you to share dinner with, Tom.”

This got the smallish man’s attention. “Ooh...Kay, so who’s my blind date for dinner? Or is that a surprise, too?” Tom mused, more than anything. He knew that William would only set him up with a nice woman for dinner.

William sipped his soda and then smiled at Tom. “Yeah, it’s a surprise, my friend. And you know how I like surprises” William stated, smiling that contented smile again.