Firestarter – Chapter 1

After spending five minutes in a patrol car with Sergeant Fullbody, I realized that he was a man who was very into himself. He checked himself in the mirror every chance he got and didn't listen to my directions on the way to the parade when I insisted he was going the wrong way. "No, no," he said, taking a turn and flashing me an easy-going smile. "We just go up this street and take a left and bam, we're there." After ten minutes of pick-up lines and frustration, he finally agreed that doing what I told him to would get us there faster. But needless to say, we were a little late.

"Jango was transferred to Captain Hina's squad. Lucky dog." he said, frowning as I pointed up ahead. "He—"

"Up here. Just park the car and we can stand on the sides with the crowds and make sure no one steps out of line." I said.

Fullbody looked skeptic as he put the car in park. "Is this the spot where all the floats take off? The beginning of the parade?"

I nodded. "Smoker's car should be one of the first—he's after the mayor, I think."

"You two aren't apart." I looked over at him and was surprised to see him grinning, emphasis on the canines. "Something going on?"

"Nothing unprofessional." I said hastily and turned to get out of the car. I didn't want him to see me blushing to my ears.

"Hey, relax," Fullbody's door slammed and he straightened his badge. "Wait here, I'll get you and me a couple of hot dogs, okay?"

"Okay."

---

Fullbody was more of a talker and that forced me into the role of the submissive listener. I found that fifteen minutes into the parade, after the mayor had passed (His name was Crocodile, and he was just as strange as his name, in my opinion), that he could make what I thought would be a nice experience an utter chore. Still, he'd been nice to pay for my hot dog and bought me a hot chocolate to go along with it, so I didn't dislike the man. He was nice, once you overlooked the egotistic characteristic.

"I think this is Captain Smoker's car." I said, rolling up on my toes. Sure enough, I could see him. There was a small, thin man driving a tan, old-fashioned looking convertible with Smoker sitting up on the back seats. His name was painted on each side of the car in a bright gold with his title and he was in full uniform, waving to everyone. I smiled. He wasn't smoking, like the mayor had been. And unlike the mayor, he was alone, without family surrounding him on both sides, everyone with winning smiles and eager waves out to the crowd. For a fleeting moment, I imagined myself up there, waving at his side. Not as his Lieutenant, but—

"Lieutenant?"

"Hunh?" I looked up. Fullbody was frowning, his radio in hand.

"Did you hear that? All available officers needed? Something's happened."

"Wh-What? We'd better go." I turned, heading for the car. Reality swooped in and took me by force, and it left me with an uneasy feeling well justified.

"They're calling for the fire department, too," Fullbody said, jogging up from behind.

My stomach suddenly felt hollow and swelled instead with a fear, mingled with an intense anxiety. It was that boy. I already knew the story—I could see it now. He put a float up in flames.

---

Fullbody and I got there with a few other responding officers. The volunteer fire department had just put it out. It was just like I suspected, one of the floats caught on fire, and every bone in my body believed that this was the work of the freckled, unnamed boy.

Speculation and rumors flew around, but it was really just a minor fire, just but big enough to burn it down and render it useless. The car beneath all the trimmings and decoration hadn't exploded, thankfully. It wasn't participating in the parade, that was certain, but the show would go on. But this fire was carefully created. I turned to Fullbody, frowning grimly. "Smoker doesn't know about this, does he?"

He shook his head. "Course not. Captain Smoker doesn't have a radio on him right now, he's in the parade. Captain Hina's men are taking care of most of the security, anyway."

That was good. I wanted Smoker to go home, have a sandwich, watch the game and not have to worry about this.

"I wonder..." Fullbody began, leaning back with his arms crossed. "Why it was that float." Egotistic or not, he also suspected it was that boy—that firestarter. He caught on quick.

I turned and looked, finding the answer right in front of my eyes. Gold letters curled into black, shriveled and shrunk, and I stopped one of the passer-by, a stressed looking woman with bright orange hair. "Pardon, that float is...?"

"The city orphanage's." she said hastily, then hurried off.

I grabbed Fullbody's arm, seized with excitement. I knew how to find him. "I know!" I said in an excited whisper. "We have to go, quick!"

Fullbody pulled back. "What are you talking about? They need us here!"

"Just come with me," I said, already running for the car. "I'll explain on the way!"

---

When we got to the orphanage, Fullbody was still asking me questions, even though I explained to him very clearly what I wanted to do. That freckled boy didn't torch things without reason. At least, I didn't think so. I wasn't sure myself why the apartment building had been a target, but I had a feeling that the float had been destroyed as some act of revenge, maybe. After all, those witnesses identified him as a boy, early twenties at the very most. Maybe he was even younger.

"There's something about the orphanage he hates." I said to Fullbody as he went up the steps of the building. I rang the buzzer and smiled at Fullbody. I couldn't help it. I was excited that maybe I was on the right track, maybe I was finally making some progress.

Fullbody looked up at the doors and hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. "Yeah? I would, too..."

A young woman named Makino answered the door. She smiled politely and let us inside, but it was obvious to me that she was bothered that there were two police officers here. Regardless, she offered to put some water on the stove for coffee.

"I don't like coffee, sorry. I'm fine." I said as she insisted that Fullbody and I both sit on a couch in the front room. Fullbody also declined.

"What can I do for you?" she asked, sitting in an overstuffed chair at the side of the couch, smiling pleasantly. "None of the kids are in any trouble, are they? We haven't had a runaway in years..."

"No, well..." I paused, looking to Fullbody. He shrugged at me; he didn't know what to say either. "Well, did you ever have any kid here who was..." Again, I looked to Fullbody. He stared. "Uhm, fond of fire...?"

"ACE!" someone shouted, followed by a high-pitched laugh. "They're looking for Ace!"

Makino stood up, smoothing her dress, and frowned. "Luffy, please..." Her reprimanding voice was too soft.

Fullbody and I both turned to see a boy, all arms and legs, laughing and smiling. He would have fit the description of that freckled body: white, messy black hair, moderately tall. But he was missing one thing: freckles. I stood up slowly. "Excuse me." I looked to Makino, "Can I have a word with him?"

---

Luffy looked absolutely excited to be around me, and he seemed to think everything Fullbody and I did was funny. He answered our questions without any objections—in fact, he appeared to be glad to help. He was seventeen, I learned. Getting ready to leave, he said proudly. Going to start his journey soon.

"You said Ace?" Now I was getting serious. Fullbody leaned forward.

"My brother." Luffy grinned wide. "Yeah, you're looking for him, right?"

Fullbody kept being the skeptic. He didn't like Luffy, especially after he pointed at him and said he'd better watch it, Makino was getting married next month. Personally, I thought Luffy was interesting. He was very straight-forward with everything he talked about, and that made the little interview a lot easier for me. At least, he'd been straight-forward and cooperative. Until the subject reached Ace.

I nodded. "Isn't he the one you said was fond of fire?"

Luffy laughed. "Yeah, he loves it."

"Does your brother visit here often after he left?"

He paused thoughtfully and then shrugged his shoulders. "He comes and goes. He'll come again when he feels like it."

"Has he ever said anything about...lighting something on fire?"

Fullbody's breath stilled. Luffy stared. He didn't answer.

"Luffy, did he—"

"If he did, it was for a good reason." Luffy's serious tone was unexpected and I blinked back at him, his smile gone and replaced with a cold look.

Fullbody took it from there. He stood up and cleared his throat. "What about an apartment building? Or a parade float? How about the park just down the street?"

Luffy shrugged his shoulders and looked down. He reached into his pockets and fumbled with three matches.

"Did Ace give those to you?" I asked softly, leaning forward.

He nodded. "Ace didn't like the park cause we never got to play." Suddenly, Luffy looked up at me. "In my dreams, you wear glasses." His bright eyes went to Fullbody, "You put a bug in your soup."

My jaw dropped. I wasn't wearing my glasses at the moment, and I was certain I never met Luffy before that day, but...while Fullbody choked on his coffee, I pulled out my red glasses and put them on.

Luffy pointed at me and laughed, suddenly all smiles. "Just like that!"

Makino came in with coffee for Fullbody—he'd asked for some before we started the interrogation. Luffy wouldn't say anything else after that. He got up and said he was done, then went into the other room. Makino apologized for anything he might have done to insult us. Fullbody was furious, but even with the information we got on Ace, there wasn't much else to be found here except for the odds and ends of an old life abandoned. Makino insisted that we leave. I asked her for a picture of Ace, for some kind of reference, but she quietly but firmly said that we should go. I nodded.

"At least now we can put 'freckled face' with a name." I said as Fullbody started the car. "Captain Smoker can get some kind of picture from them when he isn't so busy..."

Fullbody grumbled as he backed the squad car out. "That kid..."

I smiled at him. "Don't let what he said get to you. Makino said half of the things he says are nonsense..."

Fullbody suddenly turned and looked at me. I was so startled by the look in his eyes that I didn't notice that he'd pulled the car over. "But he was right. Shit, he was right. A few weeks ago, I was out with a girl—beautiful woman. The waiter turned out to be the assistant chef. Real asshole." He was red in the face with frustration as he turned and sighed. I watched him with quiet awe. "So I...I thought I'd embarrass him and I crushed a bug and put it in my soup."

---

Thanksgiving dinner was what I expected it to be. After my adventure with Fullbody, I went straight back to the office, filled out a formal report on everything that happened, and left it on Captain Smoker's desk for him to read when he got the chance. I took the time then to look around his office, admiring the awards and decorations he'd received on his wall, then went back to his desk. Still no pictures, no smiling faces, no trophy wife. I didn't know why I bothered to check. His desk had been bare for as long as I knew him and it wasn't going to change soon.

Once that was done, I went back to my desk to see if I could find any juveniles under the name "Ace." There were dozens of results, but none of them matched the description. The only one with freckles had bright blonde hair to go with it, and he definitely didn't look like a relative of Luffy's.

By the time I was done, I checked my watch and found that it was late. Late, late. And I hadn't eaten since that hot dog Fullbody got me around nine that morning. My cell phone had three missed messages--my friend was upset, wondering why I cancelled on our lunch and get together. I sighed and rubbed my eyes and grabbed my coat. It didn't matter. I had to get back, take a warm shower and get some sleep.

For some reason, I thought of Luffy and the way he'd pointed at my glasses and said they were exactly like his dream. I thought of the expression on Fullbody's face when Luffy mentioned the bug and how he made me promise in the car that I wouldn't tell.

I thought about it all the way home, and when I slept that night, I dreamt of fire.