Chapter 14 — Fire Behind the Line

The abandoned demolition factory once named after Pham Van Khoa is located deep in an empty lot on the outskirts of Hoa Trach city, far from residential areas, surrounded by piles of construction scrap stacked as high as mountains. Thien Ly and Trong Khiem went there in the morning, carrying a search warrant because Trong Khiem requested it through a private channel, avoiding going through the normal reporting system that could reach Mr. Tho's ears.

The factory had been abandoned for many years, with weeds growing among piles of rusty scrap metal, but when Trong Khiem carefully inspected a small warehouse behind, they discovered signs that the place had been used recently - a few new chemical drums, truck tire marks on the ground that had not yet completely faded.

"Some people still come here often." Trong Khiem said, bending down to carefully examine the traces. "Perhaps this is where materials for fires are stored."

They quietly searched the area all morning, collecting each sample and taking photos from each angle. Trong Khiem worked with his usual meticulousness, measuring the distance between drums and noting the production batch numbers printed on the barrels, while Thien Ly searched every corner of the warehouse, careful not to disturb anything that could be important evidence.

"Look at this arrangement." She called him back, pointing to a corner of the warehouse that was neatly tidied up, different from the dusty rest. "Some people still use this corner regularly, as a temporary workplace."

Trong Khiem bent down to observe and nodded in agreement. "There are traces of a small table that used to be here, and a few small scorch marks on the ground, probably where the catalyst mixture was tested before being used."

They continued working in silence for a while, the only sound being the wind blowing through the old corrugated iron sheets, creating a ghostly creaking sound. Near noon, when the two were preparing to leave, Thien Ly discovered an old cell phone forgotten under a pile of tarpaulins, perhaps having fallen out while someone was hastily cleaning up.

"Mr. Khiem, look at this." She called him back, careful not touch the phone directly.

As soon as Trong Khiem bent down to take a look, a roaring sound of a motorbike engine rang out from afar, moving quickly toward them. Both were immediately alert, hiding behind a large pile of scrap.

"Someone is coming." Thien Ly whispered.

The motorbike stopped not far away, a man wearing a dark coat and a helmet covering his face got off and went straight towards the warehouse where they had just searched. His figure and height matched what Thien Ly remembered from Pham Van Khoa's photo.

The man stopped suddenly when he saw the disturbed tracks in the warehouse, his body tensing up in a alert position. In just a split second, he turned around and ran back towards the motorbike.

"Stop! Police investigation!" Trong Khiem shouted loudly and rushed out of his hiding place.

But the man was able to start the car and drive away at breakneck speed, leaving a column of dust behind. Trong Khiem chased after a few dozen meters before being forced to stop, panting, clenching his fists in anger.

"We let him get away." He said, his voice full of regret.

"But at least we know for sure he's still hanging out here." Thien Ly said, trying to look on the positive side. "And we have that phone."

They returned to collect the phone as evidence, carefully packaging it according to proper procedures. But when the two were about to leave the area, the sky suddenly turned dark, dark clouds quickly gathered, signaling that a big storm was about to strike.

"We should leave before it rains heavily." Trong Khiem said, looking up at the rolling sky.

But just as they got in the car, Thien Ly's radio sounded an emergency alarm - a fire had just broken out in a nearby construction materials warehouse, not far from where they were standing. There was no time to think, the two immediately rushed to the scene, because this was the area where Thien Ly still had to be on duty when there was an alarm, even during break time.

When they arrived, the fire broke out fiercely, and worse, a thunderstorm broke out with strong winds, causing the fire to spread terrifyingly quickly through rows of warehouses containing flammable materials. The fire department arrived a few minutes later, but Thien Ly, with her professional instincts, rushed in to assist as soon as she realized that a security worker was still trapped inside the small office area nearby.

"Thien Ly, wait for me!" Trong Khiem shouted when he saw her rushing in without adequate protective equipment.

He ran after her, both of them rushing to search for the guard amid the thick smoke. High winds caused the fire to change direction continuously and unpredictably, and at one moment, a piece of the brick wall above suddenly collapsed right near where Trong Khiem was standing.

"Careful!" Thien Ly screamed, rushed to push him out of the way of the collapsed wall, and both fell to the ground, just a few inches away from the pile of broken bricks.

They lay there for a while, breathing hard, their hearts pounding because they had just narrowly escaped a life-or-death moment. Trong Khiem looked at Thien Ly, his eyes filled with an intense emotion that he had never shown before.

"You just saved my life." He said, his voice still shaking from the after effects of the dangerous moment.

"We save each other." Thien Ly replied, realizing her hand was still tightly holding his sleeve. "Now we have to find a guardian before it's too late."

They quickly got up, continued searching, and finally discovered the guard hiding in a corner of the small bathroom, panicked but fortunately uninjured. All three people escaped just as the official fire brigade had largely controlled the fire with the help of heavy rain that had just begun to fall.

Standing under the eaves of a nearby house, wet but safe, Thien Ly and Trong Khiem looked at each other in the dim light of the remaining lightning from the storm. They both knew that the moment they had just experienced had changed something between them, something that couldn't be described in the usual terms of working relationships.

"I was scared." Trong Khiem spoke softly, a rare admission from a man who always appeared calm and controlled. "Not afraid for myself, but afraid when I see the wall about to fall down on where you stand."

"Me too." Thien Ly replied, her voice trembling but sincere. "Since when do I worry so much about your safety?"

Trong Khiem looked at her for a long time, then slowly raised his hand and brushed away a strand of wet hair sticking to her cheek. "Perhaps from the first day, when I saw you willing to rush into the fire without hesitation, believing that every second of delay could mean a life."

At that moment, under the eaves in the pouring rain, amidst the smell of burning smoke still lingering on both of their clothes, Thien Ly felt an unprecedented closeness to the man standing in front of her. Without any more words, she leaned closer, and Trong Khiem responded with a gentle but sincere kiss, like an affirmation of all the feelings that had been silently growing over the past weeks.

When they pulled away from each other, they both smiled, a rare smile of relief and warmth amid the recent stressful days. "I didn't intend for this to happen in the middle of an investigation." Trong Khiem said, his voice was a little confused.

"Me too." Thien Ly smiled softly. "But I don't regret it."

"Neither do I." He replied, gently squeezing her hand. "It's just that from now on, I will worry about you even more."

The rain gradually stopped, leaving behind a rare clear sky after the storm, and the moonlight began to peek through the fading clouds. Thien Ly stood next to Trong Khiem, looking towards the completely extinguished fire, feeling a strange peace creeping into her heart, even though she knew clearly that the road ahead was still full of thorns and dangers waiting for both of them.

Captain Dinh found them soon after, busy directing the cleanup of the scene, but still managed to glance at the two people with the searching eyes of an experienced person. "Are you two okay? I heard there was a wall collapse near where you two were standing."

"We're fine, Uncle Dinh." Thien Ly replied, trying to keep her voice normal even though her heart was still filled with emotions. "Luckily I escaped in time."

Mr. Dinh looked at the two people for a moment, then nodded slightly, did not say anything more, just patted Trong Khiem's shoulder before returning to work. Perhaps, with the experience of someone who has witnessed so many teammates finding each other on the line of life and death, he understood better than anyone else what had just arisen between these two young people, and he chose to remain silent and respectful.

On the way back to the city, sitting in Trong Khiem's car when the rain had completely stopped, Thien Ly leaned her head against the window, watching the streetlights pass by in the night. "The phone we got, do you think it can help?"

"I sent the data for appraisal as soon as possible." Trong Khiem replied, his eyes still focused on the road ahead, but his voice was much softer than his usual seriousness. "If we're lucky, we might find a contact number, text messages, or even call records that could lead to the person who hired him."

"Do you think the man we saw today is Pham Van Khoa?" she asked.

"I believe so, although I can't say for sure until there's more evidence." He glanced at her for a moment, his eyes softer. "But whoever it is, tonight I'm just glad that we're both back safely."

Thien Ly smiled, reached out to hold his hand on the gear lever, a gesture so natural that neither of them needed to say another word. Outside the glass window, Hoa Trach city gradually appeared with sparkling lights after the rain, reflecting on the wet road surface like thousands of stars falling to earth, witnessing the quiet but sincere beginning of a new love rekindled amid dangers that have never subsided.