Chapter 973: All the banquets in the world come to an end

Half a month later, both the door of the dormitory at the wanted criminals' base and Jack's Firebird were repaired, and the remaining members of the former 110 Special Investigation Team gathered together again.

A large barbecue grill was placed on the lawn in front of the building, and everyone involved in the case, including Stella from the CSI New York office and Reagan's family, was present.

Of course, there are some people who have been working silently behind the scenes, such as David Rossi, Dana Moger, Bald Frank Moses and Jack's two sisters, who did not show up.

The big bald dragon is nowhere to be found. The two royal sisters are busy in California, while Rossi came to New York a few days in advance and together with Dana Moger, she brought Jack an Audi R8 modified with hidden police lights.

This 9% new supercar is a return of favor from the International Department, as a thank you to Jack for sending them an international terrorist.

I heard that this case has alarmed the president and the secretary of state. The Americans are currently trying to win over the North Korean man born in the 80s, and the defected terrorist has become the best bargaining chip.

The lawsuit against Senator Lavoie is expected to last a long time, but that doesn't matter anymore. If nothing unexpected happens, Jack will soon have a senator lover.

Of course, strictly speaking, it should be said that Senator Zoe Anderson has a lover who works for the FBI.

There are many guests today, so the food Jack prepares is mainly large in quantity and filling. The oven used is a large-sized smoked slow-roasting oven commonly seen in Texas, which contains whole beef brisket and pork ribs that have been marinated for a day in advance.

The smoking and slow-roasting method is very laborious. Jack referred to the method of making Peking duck and used fragrant apple wood as fuel. He also sprayed fruit vinegar and grape juice on the meat from time to time to prevent moisture loss.

After staying in the oven at about 120 degrees for seven or eight hours, when you take it out, the beef brisket will release juice with a light press, and the pork ribs have already been soft and boneless, and the ribs can be easily pulled out by hand.

Americans like all kinds of sauces when eating barbecue, and Jack also prepared some, but his marinating technique is quite authentic, and the original flavor alone is enough to satisfy most people's taste buds.

Worried that the guests would feel sick of eating meat alone, Jack also toasted bread, shredded the beef brisket and mixed it with onions and peppers to make hamburgers.

But the most popular dish is Roujiamo, which is a combination of Chinese and Western food. The thousand-thread pastry cake originated from Tongguan, Shaanxi. It is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, and the combination with juicy minced beef brisket is an unexpected surprise.

After seeing off most of the guests, the special investigator also got his own surprise. Negley hung up the phone and looked at Reacher and then at Jack in surprise.

"My dad just called me, what did you do?"

"If I had asked Jack to wire the money directly to your account, you would have scoffed, but the 24-hour medical care at Chicago Family Health Center is another matter.

That way you can have some time for yourself and not have to spend all your free time taking care of your dad."

Reacher was playing with the beer bottle in his hand, as if he was just talking about a trivial matter.

"Reacher said that you would not easily accept gifts from others, but your father would never spend all the money no matter how he used it. In the end, it will be left to you in the form of an inheritance."

Jack wiped his hair with a towel, took the beer bottle handed to him by Negley and smiled.

Cooking delicious food is as enjoyable as exercising. The only drawback is that it is easy to get all over yourself with the smell of cooking fumes, so you need to take a shower afterwards and it is best to light a cigarette.

"What about me? The world's biggest Santa Claus, what did I put under my Christmas tree this year?" O'Donnell said with anticipation.

"You don't have a penny." Reacher smiled and clinked the bottle with him.

Jack took out an envelope and handed it to him, "At the credit union on the corner of your street, Reacher set up an education fund account for your two children. The money is enough to cover the children's private school fees and future college expenses.

Even if you and your wife have enough children to run a basketball team and every child wants to be a doctor, that’s fine.”

"Congressman Lavoie's case has fully demonstrated how dangerous it is to deal with those guys. In the future, you should no longer need to engage in those blackmailing politicians. Take the cases you want."

The big guy's words made O'Donnell laugh and shake his head, "I really don't know what to say."

Reacher then looked at Dixon, "Speaking of work, you can quit. Jack's friend registered a consulting company for you. I don't know the details, but the IRS will entrust you with some long-term tasks.

That company has plenty of money, and I know you have a lot of ideas and are smart enough to work for yourself, and then you can use your creativity to your heart’s content and do what you want.”

Dixon's beautiful eyes widened in surprise. "Uh, wow!" The lady kept saying "wow" for a long time but didn't utter a word. It took her a long time to utter "thank you".

Finally, everyone looked at the big guy, but after waiting for a long time, nothing happened. Finally, O'Donnell couldn't help but ask curiously, "What about you? Big guy, what did you get for yourself?"

Reacher frowned and thought for a long time, then hesitantly said, "A new toothbrush? Jack said that I always put the toothbrush directly in my pocket, which is unhygienic, and suggested that I buy one with a protective box."

Several people couldn't help but chuckle, thinking he was joking, until they saw a half-smile on Jack's face, Dixon was shocked and realized, "Oh my God, he is serious."

"I originally planned to sign a share transfer agreement with the big guy and use the annual dividends to supplement his travel funds, but he refused."

Jack put a box of cigars on the table. "After deducting the cost of the door upstairs and the repairs to my car, I bought an extra box of cigars, and the remaining money was donated to a nonprofit organization that provides psychological counseling for veterans."

As they talked, each of the special investigators present, including the ladies, was given a cigar.

The ladies just held them as souvenirs, and the men all lit their cigars. O'Donnell slowly blew out a smoke ring, shook his head and sighed.

"You know, Reacher, when I heard you were wandering around with only what you could fit in your pockets, I thought you were crazy, like one of those guys with post-traumatic stress syndrome.

But now I have to admit that perhaps you are the one who lives the most thoroughly among us."

Lei Che smiled but didn't answer. No one spoke anymore. Everyone knew that it was almost time for them to say goodbye.

As if feeling that the atmosphere was suddenly made a little weird by O'Donnell, Dixon rolled his eyes, hugged the big guy's arm and smiled sweetly.

"Maybe there's something else you can do, Reacher. Come home with me. I really want you to meet my parents."

Under the gossiping gazes of the crowd, the big guy's muscles instantly tensed visibly, and even his breathing stopped.

Seeing that the rough man's face was getting redder and redder, and he had no idea how to respond, Dixon burst out laughing and hugged his neck, "Damn it, you can't even see that this is a joke. Why do I feel guilty?"

"Oh, I thought I didn't know." Reacher suddenly became incoherent. It took him a long time to recover from the "shock" just now, and he hugged Dixon with his backhand.

Jack took out an envelope like a magician and put it between their lips that were about to touch each other. "Before you go upstairs and collapse the bed, here's a small gift for Reacher."

Dixon took the envelope with a blushing face, and after Reacher nodded, he opened the envelope and took out a card from it and asked in confusion, "What is this?"

"A Greyhound travel pass, worth $1980, allows Reacher to ride Greyhound buses anywhere in the country for one year.

That way I don’t have to worry about someone jumping on a freight train and having it derail,” Jack explained with a laugh.

"Sounds like $1980 worth of freedom." Reacher happily took the small card and put it in his pocket, then got up from the sofa holding Dixon.

"Perhaps you could consider staying here for dinner. I see Jack has prepared quite a few ingredients."

Everyone raised their middle fingers at him, and Negley even laughed and said, "I'll wait for you for 10 minutes at most. Dixon and I have an appointment to go to the airport together."

"Ten minutes is really not enough. I'm not O'Donnell." Reacher's last words before going upstairs drew two middle fingers of contempt from O'Donnell.