Undercover

29. How Did I Miss That?

Aiden's P.O.V.

I was back to square two. Sitting here. Looking at the board that had another picture to the one that had already been there. There was always something else. I was running out of time. She was running out of time. And that thought didn't want to let me think straight.

Finn was growing anxious too. But I felt like he wanted to keep it together so that I wouldn't completely lose my cool. I had work to do and I needed to give my one hundred percent. Many of the cases brought you down with them. There was always something that you could have done better. Always something that would have been so obvious now, but that at the time, you didn't see. Sometimes it was one of those things that made you lose the case. You weren't fast enough or your judgement was just a little bit off. But it was enough to throw you off track and make you lose time. It was what was happening now. And it was killing me.

Cayden and Ingrid would come by every day and I would have to tell them that there was still nothing there. I saw the desperation in their eyes. I saw the hurt, the fear. All they had left was each other and if they lost Natalia, they would lose everything. That would be another person they had loved deeply that they would lose. And it would all be on me.

I left the station to go outside and get some fresh air. I needed to be able to clear my thoughts. I wasn't any good if I had doubts running through my head. The point of this job was to have the confidence and the swiftness to make decisions that would either be the end or saving grace of another life.

When I looked up, I wasn't surprised to see Ingrid coming my way. The thing that was strange to me was that she was alone. Cayden wasn't with her. She approached me with the most serene look on her face, but she didn't completely come near me. She stopped a few feet away from where I was standing. I took that as my cue to talk to her. So that's exactly what I did.

I approached her. "Hey Ingrid. How are you holding up?" I asked her.

"I'm fine, Aiden. So far. I have this bad feeling, you know. Like the day she disappeared was the last time I will ever see her."

"Ingrid. I'm trying. I really am. I know how you feel. I understand. I want to find her but I can't for the life of me find anything useful. He wants her to suffer. And he wants me to suffer too. I just can't figure it out."

She grabbed my hand and placed them between hers. I saw a tear rolling down her cheeks. "I believe in you, Aiden. And I know that Cayden does too. He's a bit stubborn at times, but I know that he has all his faith on you. If anybody can find her, Aiden, we are confident that it's you. Don't doubt yourself. I know that she hasn't ever once doubted you. And I know that you can do this. She would too. She believes in you with every fiber of her being. Don't let her down, Aiden. I know you won't. But I'm losing my sanity waiting like this."

"I know. I know. So am I. I'll find her, Ingrid. We will find her, no matter what happens. I will bring her back to you guys."

She nodded. "Thank you."

I couldn't help myself. I brought her in for a hug and for a moment, I pretended that it was Natalia instead. And that gave me the energy to fight. Because I owed it to her to be on the best I could be. That was something that I had always given her. I was going to give this investigation my all and that was that. We were going to find her and she was going to be found alive, even if it was the last thing I did.

"I'll see you around, Aiden. We believe in you."

I nodded and watched her as she walked in the direction that she had come from. After that, I took a deep breath and went back inside. I went back inside to look at the board. My attention went back to the dress that she was wearing. There's something about that dress. It looks like something I've seen. But I'm sure it wasn't Natalia's. So where the hell had I seen that dress? I felt like by not remembering what the hell that dress was from, I was losing an important piece of the investigation. I eventually gave up though.