Natalie

Chapter 25

Richard and Rose Thompson sat in a dimly lit room located in the police station in Plattsburgh, New York. It was uncomfortable in the very same police station that they spent weeks in while trying to find what happened to their daughter. Now, she was gone almost thirty years, and they were left to wonder what truly happened. 

Richard always had speculations that it had something to do with the boy his daughter was seeing at the time. Matthew Ainsworth. Even thinking the name made Richard want to throw up. That boy, better yet, man because he was twenty years old, spent a better amount of time selling drugs and flirting with other teenage girls. It was a constant fight with Cindy for her to stop seeing him, but she genuinely thought she was in love. 

The police were aware of Matthew's presence in Cindy's life, but they quickly ruled him out when they realized he had a solid alibi. That alibi being one of Cindy's female classmates. Yes, he was a terrible person, but Matthew was just not responsible for what happened.

The couple had always considered leaving town after a few years of sorrow over their daughter, but they just couldn't bring themselves to do it. Rose had hoped that one day Cindy would come home, and if they left, she wouldn't have anyone to come home to. Now, sitting in the police station it seemed like they made the right decision. Although, the news they were about to get could be extremely awful.

Looking up through a window, Richard saw a group of official looking people enter the main part of the precinct. They were shaking hands with the chief of police, and began engaging in a short conversation. A moment later, a tall, slender man that seemed out of place for the group began walking towards the room Richard and Rose were sitting in. 

When he entered, the man introduced himself, "Hi, my name is Doctor Spencer Reid and I work for the Behavior Analysis Unit of the FBI. I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about your daughter?"

"The FBI? How would our daughter be of any help, she's been gone for almost thirty years now." Rose said, confusion drowning her mind.

Spencer sort of leaned himself on the table in front of the two of them, and sighed, "It's actually regarding another strange disappearance,"

Richard shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "Did another girl go missing? I knew the police should have done more research,"

"Actually, it was a married couple, Elena and Freddie Cindy," he said.

The couple's eyes sort of simultaneously looked up at the FBI agent in front of them. At first, they were disappointed to hear that it was a couple until he revealed their last name. It wasn't until he revealed the next detail that they really went into shock.

"We have reason to believe that Elena Cindy is your daughter."

----

"Hey, Penelope," Natalie said, walking into her office. She had just received a text from the technical analyst saying that she needed something important, "You needed something?" she asked, holding up her phone.

Garcia swiveled around in her chair, "Yes! I needed to see your wonderful, teenage angst ridden, fantastic, beautiful face! You haven't visited me all day," she frowned.

Unfortunately, Natalie did not have the energy to reciprocate the enthusiasm Garcia was emitting. Especially, on a day like today. "Well, now you've seen it. I'm going back to Spencer's desk, I've been alphabetizing some files for Hotch," she turned around swiftly, but got stopped in her tracks by a huff from Garcia.

"You usually do that in my office," Garcia said.

Turning around, Natalie crossed her arms and said, "Look, I just want to be alone right now,"