A Kaitlyn and Nick Mystery-Suspense Short Story
“I’m not even hungry.” I admitted, drawing lines in the condensation that clung to my glass of Sprite.
My partner, Nick Kyles, looked up from the menu he was reading and asked, “Really?”
“Big lunch.” I answered, and then added, “Plus, I don’t do fish. Or crab.”
“What about shrimp?” He inquired.
I gave him a dubious look. “Doesn’t that count as fish?”
“Nope, shrimp actually belongs in the family of crustaceans. And so do lobsters. And barnacles.” Nick informed me with a smirk at my disgusted face.
“Gross. Give me that.” I ordered, snatching the menu our of his hand. “Let’s see is there anything that’s not seafoody here.”
“Seafoody is not a word.” Nick pointed out.
Rolling my eyes, I flipped open the menu. Then suddenly, I felt Nick’s shoe hit mine. Immediately, I glanced up to see if it was an accident or if he was trying to get my attention. I knew the latter option was correct when Nick cautiously nodded towards the door.
Casually, as to not draw any attention, I turned my head to look at the doorway. Sure enough, our ‘man of the hour’ was talking to the waitress, who smiled and then began to lead him to a table. I stopped looking at him and returned my gaze to the menu, but I wasn’t reading the words; I was thinking.
“Are you guys ready to order?”
I nearly jumped out of my seat at the waitress’s sudden arrival. Thankfully, Nick must have been paying attention because he said, “Yes, we are. We’ll take two cheeseburgers, with the sides of French fries and onion rings. Maybe some ketchup to go with that?” Nick ordered, winking at me.
The waitress scribbled down our order and then hurried away saying that she would be back with the food shortly. Once she was out of earshot, I glared at Nick and demanded, “Now where did you find that they had normal food?”
“On the back.” Nick pointed to the back of my menu, that he could see but I couldn’t. “Noticed it, while you were reading it.”
“Of course, you did.” I grumbled and then remembered the man we were supposed to be watching. I instantly, glanced behind me to see what table the man had sat down at. There he was, reclining in a chair at a table near a window. The man was staring out it, a blank expression on his face. “Probably thinking about what he did.” I harshly thought to myself. It was tempting to arrest the man right now, but practiced patience kept me in my seat. There were two fish to catch tonight, and I didn’t mean the slimy salmon or tuna kind.
Not wanting to look suspicious, I stopped staring at the man and returned my attention to my clear drink in front of me. I stirred the ice inside of it around with my straw, before taking a sip. Meanwhile, Nick glanced at his watch and then back at the man. “Anytime now.” He muttered, in a voice that only I heard.
Anytime the man’s literal partner-in-crime would arrive, meet up with the man, and then neither of them knew, but after that they would be going home in handcuffs. Or more like going to jail. See, these two people had murdered a woman in front of her own children. The children were devastated but had agreed to identify their mother’s killers. So, all Nick and I had to do was catch the two and bring them in so the kids could see them, and justice would be served.
The question was, where was the other one? The kids had said that one of the criminals had been a woman, while the other, the one they saw right now, was a man. But it was now five minutes passed the time the two should be meeting. How did I know that well, an informant got word of it and….
“Here you go.” The waitress said, sliding our tray of steaming food onto the table. Two plates of sizzling fries and thick burgers were on it, and I grabbed one, the aroma of the food making me forget the fact that I wasn’t hungry. Grinning, Nick reached for the other plate, and we both bowed our heads, and I offered a quick prayer over the food.
But as I opened my eyes, I knew something was wrong. Really wrong. I felt dizzy. My head ached and my stomach felt like I had just been spinning around and around on one of those merry-go-rounds, you find at parks. My face must have been pale also, because Nick said in a concerned tone, “Hey, K, you, okay?”
“I don’t think so.” I replied swallowing down a throatful of acidy vomit that had tried to escape. “It’s either food poisoning or…” I stopped as another wave of today’s lunch threatened to reappear. What was going on? “I know I’m not sick like a virus.” I finished.
But if I wasn’t sick and I wasn’t having an allergic reaction to the food…what was happening to me?
-Kaitlyn 💜
- A Little Fishy
- A Little Fishy (Part 2)
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