Baptism by Fire Part 1

A bright hue of orange and yellow filled her eyesight. Sounds echoed throughout the air. The constant sounds of men shouting at each other could be heard over the blaring of horns, sirens of firetrucks, police cars, and ambulances. 

The heat coming from the burning house in front of her was intense. She was five cars away from the commotion, yet she could feel her skin being scorched by it. 

Julie Mace Valentino watched as the firefighters did the best they could to battle the raging fire in front. They evacuated all the surrounding areas. Making sure that the other houses would not suffer the same fate. They needed to make sure all human and non-human lives were safe. 

Because the fire they were trying to put out, was winning. 

She should hear the frustration in their voices as they shouted. She shook her head, no matter what they do, this fire will never be extinguished by water. 

"Should we tell them? I mean, if they are that…you know."

The woman turned her head and saw her partner behind her. Je Anne Veloso's eyes were also trained on the action in front of them. She shrugged and tilted her head to the man running towards them. 

"Detectives, I know, I have been rude with you and the other one. It's just that…" the man, captain, paused, he closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. 

Mace stared at the captain of the firefighters. Waiting. When the man didn't continue, she looked back at the burning house. 

The fire was getting bigger, and everyone working on it was in a state of panic. Je Anne nudged her, telling her to say something. She sighed and opened her mouth.

Before she could utter a word, the whole sky erupted, and the burning house rained on them. Wood, plaster, and cement scattered as firefighters gaze at the scene.

Some men lost their balance and fell on the ground, others who were far from the house, watched dumbfounded by the explosion. Their chief, well he was cursing. 

"Damnit, Mace! The hell is this shit?!" The chief shouted at her, eyes blazing with anger he continued, "did you pull this stupid shit because I broke up with you?! Is this your way of - "

His words were cut by a loud crack of a palm hitting his face. The fire chief could only look down in disbelief as Je Anne balled her fist, and was preparing to hit him again. 

"Why you -"

An unmistakable click of a gun sounded before it's cold barrel touched the fire chief's chin. His eyes widened, the anger in them was quickly replaced by fear. 

"One more word, and I will not hesitate to blow your head off," Mace said, her voice loud enough for the nearest firefighter to approach them. 

"If you are thinking about asking for help, don't bother. If you file a complaint, it will also be useless," she continued, pressing the barrel deeper on his chin. "You were, after all, the one who started defaming me, and my partner was fed up with your accusations."

She tilted her head, indicating the people around them. Everyone of his people were staring at them, eyes fixed on their chief. Their bodies were tense and waiting. 

"See, your stupidity is causing delay," Mace said.

"You did this-" 

Mace laughed, shook her head, and stepped back. Talking to a stupid man will not finish the job. She pulled the safety of the gun back on and started walking away. 

Men who thought they were God's gifts to women, were useless. And he was the worst of the lots she had encountered. 

"Jeron!" 

She called one of his men. Jeron took off his head gear and shouted back, "What?" 

"Cooking oil."

That was all she said and then both women began to go back to their cars. Not bothering to look back, whether the man understood what she meant.

It only took a second for her hint to sink in, before Jeron was shouting, "FIRE EXTINGUISHERS!"

They didn't question why, but did as they were told. They grabbed all the fire extinguishers they could get their hands on, and began another bout with the raging inferno.

This time it slowly began to die. 

The orange hue lessened as each patch of fire was extinguished, until nothing was left, but the bare structure of the house. 

"FIRE OUT!" 

All of them collected sighs of relief. Four hours. That fire had been burning for four hours, and none of them even thought that it was a Class F fire. 

How Detective Mace figured it out, he had no idea. Jeron would have to ask her when they bumped into each other again.

~~~~~~~

The aftermath of the scene was not pretty. The only thing that was left standing were the main pillars of the house. The walls and the other components were nothing but ashes on the ground. 

Jeron slowly walked on, looking for clues as to where the fire had started. With this kind of damage, it was near impossible to pinpoint. 

On his hand was the blueprint of the house. From where he stood, he was near the hallway between the bedrooms and the living room. 

The house had two bedrooms. It was a relatively small house, but the size of the kitchen was huge. 

When Jeron looked up the records, it was intended to be a catering kitchen. 

But there was no legal nor formal business of the owners. Whoever lived in the house, the kitchen was never used as it was intended. 

He turned right to the first bedroom, when he stepped on something that gave a loud crack. 

Jeron looked down and horror filled his eyes. 

"Call for a forensic team. We have a body!"

His colleagues rushed to the place where he was and began digging the body. It was hard to identify the body. The skin was charred beyond recognition. Whatever he or she was wearing was either burned into the skin or was burned away. 

When the last rumble was lifted, Jeron let out a curse that would make his mother soap his mouth. It can't be helped though. What he saw was something he was not expecting. 

"We need more body bags here…and a whole team to clean this up," Jeron called in, looking at the bodies he and his partner unearthed. "We need Mace and Je Anne…this is not a random fire. What we have is a murder scene."