The Retirement Life of a Runaway Desperado

I had a longer conversation with Arthur again, a year later.

In that case, Lynn did not find any traces, found any evidence that would allow him to catch something along the way.Those things just disappeared, and the matter just hung there, no body, no photos, no DNA evidence, it just disappeared, and it became an unsolved case in Oak Town.

In just one year, most people have forgotten its existence, and some people regard it as a strange story and continue to live a normal life.

But that monstrous torn body had been there, and would always be in Lynn's mind in this tense, eerie way.

He and Arthur had seen each other a few times after that, except for the first two interrogations--nothing was found, and he was haughtily humiliated--these were small-town situations.

At the mayor’s charity banquet, I bumped into him in the supermarket occasionally, and saw him coming from the opposite street. The man’s attitude was polite, and Lynn was also polite. Out of the stick social distance.

That guy seemed to be sincere enough to live in the small town for a long time, and as soon as Lynn saw him, his nerves were in the same tense state as when he was still in the crime team.

When Lynn came home, Chris was fiddling with a cardboard building made in the handicraft class in the living room. It looked like a house with a garden. It hadn't been completed yet, but it could be seen from the prototype that it was very neat, detailed, and well-organized.

Lynn couldn't believe that his little girl was so skillful.

Seeing him come back, Chris raised her head and smiled at him.Then jumped off the chair and ran over, Lynn hugged her.

Even now, she still doesn't speak much. After her mother died, she once suffered from aphasia, and she only dealt with a stuffed monkey all day long, which Kelly gave her. It wasn't until she came to the town that she slowed down. Slowly separate from it and start talking.

Chrissy has blond hair and green eyes. She is a beautiful little girl, but she always looks younger than her actual age, probably because she always looks a little withdrawn and timid.

Lynn knew that she was not like this before, there was no more lively and active girl than her, but Kelly's sudden death hurt her seriously, and she didn't know how to deal with the sudden cruelty of the world, so she had to close herself off.

When Lynn moved to the small town, she thought that the pace of life here might be more suitable for her. When he was working in a big city, he didn't have time to take care of her at all, but was always busy with endless cases.

The town is nice, everyone knows each other, good schools and care, life is slow, people don't seem to know crime.

Sure enough, in the past few years, she seemed to have received enough love and care, and slowly regained her vitality.Lynn looked at the paper house with admiration. It was simple and childlike, but it could be seen that the producer was serious and meticulous.

"This is amazing," he walked over with admiration, "my little girl can become an architect."

Chris smiled shyly.

"Christine did most of the work, and we worked in pairs for craft class," she said. "She's super smart."

──Although the peaceful life in the small town is of great help to Chris, Lynn will not think that it is all due to himself, and a large part of it is due to the blessing of that little friend Christine.

Chrissy was too quiet and didn't get close enough with the kids at school until about a year ago, when she started talking a lot about a classmate at her school, Christine, and that no matter what they were doing, the two of them would always be together. Together.

When there is communication between friends, the child's eyes are brighter and more enthusiastic. She is slowly recovering from the trauma. There is nothing more gratifying than seeing this.

Lynn had been thinking of paying a visit to the girl's house to express some appreciation and a desire for further communication, but it never came because he had no idea what to say.

He is very good at detection and raids, but what should he say on this occasion when he is socializing with his daughter's friend's parents?

"Dad," Chrissy said, "there's a school fair next week."

"I heard Mrs. Allison mention it once, and she said she was looking forward to it. But what the hell is that?" Lynn said.

"Hmm, what's a new way to pass the time in school?" Chrissy said, Lynn knew that she spoke this tone from that friend named Christine, although he had never seen it before, but Lynn En already sensed another girl's extraordinarily smart and sarcastic tone from her daughter's tone.

"It's just a fair, with games and prizes," Chrissy said. "The kids are in teams of two, and by the way, Christine and I are in a team."

Lynn nodded to show that she knew that she was always in the same group as Christine.

"The school wants our parents to come and join the game," Chrissy said. "Winning the most points at the fair is considered a victory. Christine said it was to strengthen the harmony of the community."

That child knows a lot at such a young age, Lynn thought a little in surprise, of course it is true, the school organizes this kind of activity to deepen the relationship between the school and parents, which makes it easier to manage and communicate.

"Can you go, Dad?" Chrissy asked.

"Of course, sweetheart." Lynn said, how could this kind of child not go when they need their parents the most.

And he really wanted to know about Chrissy's school life. Although he came to the small town, he still cared too little about the children. Lynn thought a little guilty, he was never good at discussing parenting experiences with parents, or It was a normal activity in the community. Although it wasn't bad, he knew in his heart that he had never been out of place.

He was always better at crimes, deaths, or late nights.But now that it's all over, he needs to focus more on life in the small town.

The garden party next week will be a good opportunity to learn about Chrissy's school and get in touch with the parents of those children.

The school's garden party was well organized, and people from the whole town participated.

Standing at the door, Lynn watched the parents come and go with their children, and thought, this is really a happy home atmosphere, like the posters in children's clothing stores about children, harmony and caring, shining and perfect No shortage of.

"Hey Officer Lynn," a blond woman called out, "going to the fair with Chrissy? Hey hello, the prettiest little girl I've seen today." She bowed down to Chrissy , the latter showed a timid smile.

"She's so cute I want to swallow it!" she said.

Lynn smiled at her. Since arriving in Oaktown, he had received several hints from Mrs. Allison that a passionate relationship was possible, leaving him at a loss as to what to do.

Although he is a single man, sometimes he needs it, but she is married, her husband is the mayor of Oak Town, and he is the sheriff of the town, no matter how you look at it, it is better not to have any relationship outside the track.

"You should say thank you to Mrs. Allison, Chrissy," he said to the little girl.

"Thank you, Mrs. Allison," the child whispered.

The two of them have never been able to find a common language.

The blond beauty opposite smiled at Chrissy, then raised her head, looked at Lynn tenderly, and said, "You really should take care of yourself, Lynn...but forget it, you are too handsome but it will be very dangerous .I don't want too many women staring at you, enough of them are now."

"I think you're overestimating me, Mrs. Allison..." Lynn said.

"Judy," said Mrs. Allison, who had said many times that Lynn should call her by her first name, which Lynn always ignored.

"Judy," he said, smiling at her, but next time he'd call her Mrs. Allison.

"I really hope that Chris can be in a group with my Jack. Although I will cause a lot of jealousy, and for the art exhibition next week, it is better for me to cause less hostility. But for a handsome guy like you, It's all worth it," Mrs. Allison continued, referring to an exhibit she was hosting.

Lynn didn't know what to say, he thought he should respond to her flirting, but he was still holding his daughter's hand, his mind was blank.

"Is Mr. Allison here?" was all he could say.

"He left after 10 minutes of attendance." Mrs. Allison said, "If the school didn't ask him to speak, to show the mayor's care for the children, he hasn't spared time to appear in Jack's school for a minute this year."

This topic obviously disturbed her, so that she was not in the mood to do anything interesting. She waved her hand, bid farewell to Lynn, and greeted her young son.

"Chris?" Lynn said.

"Well, the groupings are decided by lottery," said the little girl, and her policeman father clearly grasped the point immediately from the seemingly uninteresting chatter. "Christine and I did some tricks. Divide together."

She looked up at him with pitiful eyes.She is very good at this trick.

"Am I going to hold you back from meeting a beautiful woman, Dad?" she said.

"I don't need opportunities to meet beautiful women, honey, who did you hear that from?" Lynn said.

"Everyone says you're the golden bachelor in town and you're going to find a new mother someday," Chrissy whispered. "A lot of people like you and they say you decide who you end up with sooner or later."

"I'm not looking for a new mother for you..." Lynn said. "Ah, good morning to you too, Gina, we're going to draw lots." He smiled at a single mother who greeted him expectantly. Said good hope they can draw a group to go.

"I hope so too." Lynn said, watching her leave with a smile. His face was sore from smiling all the way. Although it was worth everything to be with his daughter, he didn't want to imagine what would happen next.

Looking up, all the mothers participated in the garden party. This place is simply a paradise for women and children. He felt dizzy and missed his small workshop extremely.

However, he continued to chat with the mother across the way. She had hair carefully done for hundreds of dollars, her nails were perfectly manicured, and her smile was as sweet and boring as it was set.

This was his future life, and he would get used to these parties, these little flirtations, and being the center of gossip.

Chrissy worries that he'll find her a new mother, and Lynn doesn't think he's ready to date right now, but he knows that maybe one day he will.Chrissy needs a new mom, and the family needs stability, so he'll try to... fall in love with it, oh my god, and find someone with well-done hair and perfect nails and talk to him every night about book clubs, new The neighbor who came over, or the beautiful wife whose husband cheated on her.

The noise of the garden party made his head ache, but he bravely resisted it and took Chris to the stage to draw lots, while coping with a few bright smiles.

Lynn knew how to live in a small town, though... that didn't mean he wasn't bored when he smiled, he thought, the old life popping up every now and then like a cancer that burrowed into his bones, calling for something else.

He firmly ignores it, taking the note from Chrissy.The girl looked mysterious, and Lynn wondered if he needed to talk to her about cheating.

Before he even opened the lottery paper, he heard Chrissy scream in surprise, "Christine!"

When he turned his head, his daughter was hugging another child. Just from the body movements, he knew how good the relationship between the two was.It's been a day since we saw each other.

Lynn thought that he must have seen pictures of the girl before, so that he felt familiar.It was a very beautiful black-haired girl, and she knew at a glance that she would be a beauty embryo in the future. She was a little taller than Alice, and there was a kind of stability and elegance in her demeanor.

"Who did you draw, officer?" asked Mrs. Victor, leaning forward.

Lynn opened the lottery paper.

"It's number 23, I'll look for it." He said dryly, but he had already seen the number 23 on Christine's chest. The two little girls cheated quite successfully.

"It's too unfortunate. I thought that Anna would have a chance to draw with Chris. She likes Chris very much." The other party smiled.

"What a coincidence," Lynn said.Nod goodbye to her and end the conversation.

"Hi, you're Christine," he said, greeting his daughter's friend.

"Hello, Officer Lynn," said the little dark-haired girl, her tone polite.

Lynn smiled at her. He had never been good at getting along with children. When Kelly was around, everything was okay. After she passed away, he tried to be a father who could understand children, but he failed all the time.Now, looking at the little girl in someone else's house, after he said hello, he didn't know what to say next.

He counted on Christine's mother to be responsible for getting along with the child later, and he just watched the excitement from the sidelines.Just please, please, please don't invite him to her house for dinner, dinner parties, picnics, book clubs and tennis clubs, he really doesn't have energy for that right now.

"Where's your mother, Christine?" he asked.

Christine's eyes widened. "Don't you know?" she said.

"Know what?" Lynn said.

Christine turned her head and called, "Dad."

Lynn raised his head, and Mr. Arthur was standing there with two ice creams in his hand, apparently also stunned by the scene.

He was wearing a well-fitting gray long-sleeved shirt and black trousers. He was tall and slender, and he still looked distant and indifferent.It was no different from what he saw in the interrogation room.

Christine ran over to take the ice cream in his hand, handed one to Chrissy, and then said to Arthur, "Chrissy and I are in a group, Dad."

"We'll discuss how you got into a group with Chris when we get back, my dear lady." Arthur said coldly.

Lynn suddenly realized why he felt that Christine's tone was a bit familiar, and after conveying it several times, it still retained the smell of that person, that elegant suspect.

"You haven't said a word about your new friend, nor your new friend's father, Christine," Arthur said.

"Because I want to make friends, Daddy, and I don't want to hear you criticize me," said Christine, who has an extensive vocabulary for a child her age.

Chrissy whispered next to her, "Can I have ice cream, Dad?"

"Of course, of course, honey," Lynn said.

He stared at Arthur, the man in whom he smelled such great danger.The other party also looked at him coldly.

Finally, Arthur took a step forward, held out his hand, and said, "Hello, Officer Lynn, I didn't realize we were in a group."

Lynn shook his hand coldly and said, "Yeah, I didn't think of that either."

"My God, you two are a team!?" Mrs. Allison exclaimed from the side.They both turned to look at her, and she stood there with the look of seeing the saddest tragedy in the world happen.

"I'm sorry, I, I'm just so shocked..." she said.

"Trust me," Lynn said seriously, "me too."

The two little girls chattered endlessly, ignoring the two fathers behind them.

They even had similar names, Lynn thought, one like an echo of the other, and when they were together, even though they looked completely different, they were like twins, an unbelievable fit.

He tried to listen to what they were saying, but he was a little surprised that they seemed determined to win the championship. He had never seen Chrissy so talkative, or so passionate about winning.

The two fathers followed behind them with sullen faces, greeting countless school employees or housewives along the way. Seeing that they were in a group, the expressions of those people were a little weird, but Lynn felt that no one could compare him and Ah Ser felt even weirder.

He thought many times what it would be like to be close to Arthur next time, but it was mostly related to interrogation rooms, murder investigations, etc., but he never imagined that he would be in a lively garden tour. Yes, they're busy babysiting their kids and keeping them from getting diarrhea from eating too much ice cream.

The garden fair fits its promotional slogan very well. The games are played by parents and children together. There is also a scoring system for groups, and individual work is not encouraged at all.

Ahead of them, Chrissy said the other kid--they hated him--was coming along with his father, who was a good gamer.Christine said, "We will win the championship, of course, we can't compare to their sugar mommy in chocolate pie, but shooting, ringing and goldfish fishing, we must be number one."

"My chocolate pie wasn't too bad," said Arthur.

Lynn took one look at him and wondered if he had a sense of humor, or if he really knew how to make chocolate pie at home.

Christine glanced back at him and said, "You don't have to feel down. The mothers of those children have nothing else to do except chocolate pie. It's normal for you to lose."

He really knows how to make chocolate pie at home!

"They also make apple pie and lemon biscuits," Chrissy said.

"My apple pie was pretty good, too," said Arthur.

"I can fry eggs," Lynn said.

"Oh, you're losing out on cooking, Dad," Chrissy said.

"It's good to get used to it. My dad never cooked before. He can't even tell the difference between salt and sugar." Christine said.

"Who's not dad? He made hard-boiled eggs, but the eggs were undercooked, but he attracted the fire brigade." Chris said.

"Hey, please stop telling each other!" Lynn said.

After he finished speaking, he glanced at Arthur next to him. The man was bowing his head and chuckling, with a gentle appearance, like a standard good father at home.

When he laughed that way, Lynn thought, there was no sign of danger or darkness at all.

The first game they played was duck hunting. The style of the game was very retro. They shot the swimming iron duck with a gun. Although it was made into a rusty appearance, the duck was equipped with a sensor device, which was not retro at all. Game The prey is divided into three different sizes, and the small one is only as big as a toothpick. Maybe it’s just a friendly participation in the shooting game.

The children looked very serious, as if they were facing a major movement related to the fate of the world.

In this game, the children play an easier game first, followed by a parent-harder game.Then put them together for scoring.

Lynn watched from behind, the kids scored rare high marks, Chrissy's shooting skills were mediocre, but Christine helped her mop up all the ducks she could help.

"Wow, this is our highest score so far!" The high school student in charge of watching the booth said with a bright smile, "No matter how you play in the end, this must be rewarded, here, take it!"

She took a pair of teddy bears from behind and handed them to the two little girls. Chris hugged her tightly in her arms. Lynn thought, he hadn't seen his daughter smiling so brightly and sunny for a long time.

Christine handed the gun to her father and said solemnly, "Please, don't let any water go."

Arthur stared at her for a while, and Lynn observed the scene curiously. He felt that the father and daughter had obviously reached some kind of wireless communication. Arthur nodded, and the little girl showed a joyful expression.

Lynn lowered his head and saw his own children looking at him expectantly."Your father will do his best," he said.

He glanced at Arthur, who looked sideways at him with a serious expression.

"Share we work?" Arthur said.

Lynn stretched out his hand and drew a line in mid-air, right in the middle of the game, and said, "Your side, my side."

"We're [-]/[-] on the middle line," Arthur said.

Lynn nodded in agreement, and they started shooting ducks.

Later, Lynn thought, the game probably wasn't made to let people slaughter all the ducks, it was a lively and family-friendly game, and the designers probably didn't want to meet players like them.

The two parents didn't let go of one of them. Even the toothpick-sized duck head that came out from the corner did not escape the fate of being shot in the head.The whole game is like a clean yo massacre.

The full score of the game was 690, and they scored [-] and [-] points together, ─ [-] points were a toothpick duck that the children accidentally let go.

After the fight, there was a circle of people behind to watch the excitement.

Lynn puts down the electronic gun. It's not a real gun, but it has something in common with real shooting.This Arthur, he thought, was evidently a master with a gun.

Not just talking about shooting skills, his skills are of course very good, but what makes people a little creepy is his stance and expression when he shoots.Stable, clean, and extremely efficient.

During this period, he glanced at Arthur. The man's side profile was sharp and cold, and his eyes were calm, without any excitement or eagerness, like a frozen lake.

And this is the most enjoyable and harmonious time for Lynn to shoot together. When he stops, he can still feel the warm pleasure brought by the secretion of adrenaline.But he will never admit it.

He has cooperated with his colleagues before, shot and killed people, he knows what is an extremely tacit cooperation, but...he decided to ignore this page, this is just a damn duck-fighting game.