[ trece ] 

Days turned into weeks and there was no sign of Leon or the kidnappers. The police were now certain no one would be calling for a rescue of the child. All they had in their investigation were security tapes from the daycare where Valerie worked, as well as Valerie's account of the events. But it wasn't enough to catch whoever had taken Leon.

Ashley visited her best friend and Marc stayed behind in Barcelona, to offer her some company while Toni was away at practice, but all she did was stay in bed crying. Toni was the same way, but he had to go to practice. The team had given him a few days off in the beginning, but they later told him that he needed to return. Ashley thought it would do him well to be distracted for a while, and she wanted to do the same for Valerie. But all she seemed to be interested in was moping. And whenever she wasn't doing that, she was on her phone, looking at pictures of the three of them, and the tears would start again.

Her doctor had told her to take it easy, to get plenty of rest, but Ashley knew her depression would not be good for the baby she would be having.

"You're taking this harder than Leon's mum." Ashley commented. She had met Jessica a couple of times, when they would to the police to ask for updates on Leon's whereabouts. Toni and Valerie were devastated, crying messes, while Jessica seemed fine. As though it wasn't her three year old son that was missing. 

"She doesn't love Leon." Valerie sniffed, running a hand through her blonde hair. "She just wants to take him to hurt Toni. I wouldn't be surprised if she was behind all of this." Valerie commented to her friend. That day at the hospital, when Valerie had been released, Jessica's behavior had led Valerie to think she knew exactly where Leon was.

Ashley's eyes widened. "Why didn't you tell the police?"

"I did, and they didn't believe me." Valerie replied, "They think I'm unstable."

But Ashley was outraged at what she heard, "They can't do that! A child's life is in danger. They have to investigate every possibility."

"I know." The blonde agreed.

"Well I've seen her acting suspicious, the few times I have met her." The brunette said. "Maybe I can tell the police that she could be involved."

-

That afternoon, after Toni returned from practice, Ashley went to the police station. She had been waiting because she didn't want to leave her friend alone. 

Since they didn't believe Ashley to be emotionally unstable, they listened to her accusations and in no more than an hour, they had a search warrant to look through Jessica's hotel. She had been in Madrid since Leon's disappearance, and refused to leave until they could find him. And she was having Toni pay for all her expenses, with the threat that she would bother Valerie each chance she could get if he didn't pay for everything.

Ashley stayed at the station until the police returned from their search warrant operative. 

She was disappointed when they gave her the news that they had found no trace that a child had been in that room, but that they would keep Jessica under close watch. 

Ashley returned to Valerie and Toni's apartment, where she was staying in a guest room. The couple was upset upon hearing the news that Jessica didn't have the child. They hoped that she would have had him, as opposed to a stranger because they thought of their child lost and afraid. He was only a little boy and at least, they had wanted him to be with someone he knew.

Ashley also told them that they would keep Jessica under close watch, in case she were to be involved in the kidnapping. 

But Jessica found out she had been accused by Ashley and went to complain to them the next morning. Her loud knocks and her screaming woke them from their sleep. Toni went to open the front door, with Valerie walking behind him.

"What is wrong with you?" She glared at them. "Why would you accuse me of kidnapping my own son?"

"Because you're the only one who doesn't seem as affected by it." Toni reasoned, "So either you don't care about him as much as you say, or you know exactly where he is and that's why you have no reason to be worried."

"Oh my gosh, Toni. Are you listening to the delusions of your crazy girlfriend? She's unstable." She said the word unstable slowly, emphasizing it. "She does not know what she's talking about. Why would I kidnap Leon when I am allowed to see him whenever I want? Do you think I'm not suffering his disappearance?" She let out a sarcastic laugh. "He is my only son. I love him."

"I'm not crazy." Valerie argued, "I know you have Leon. If someone who wanted money had taken him, they would have called for a rescue by now. Toni and I have money, we could give them any amount they wanted. But no one has called us."

"Whatever." Jessica huffed. "I have things to do. I'm leaving."

-

In a hotel room in Madrid, there was a middle aged woman with her grandson. The little boy with blonde hair and bright blue eyes was sat on the carpet floor, drawing a picture of a football player with a white uniform. Next to it was a finished drawing of the same football player with a red and black horizontal striped uniform.

The television in the room was on, and it was tuned to a news station from Madrid. Normally, the grandmother watched German television on cable, but there was nothing else on.

"In other news," The reporter on TV started in Spanish. The grandmother had no idea what she was saying, but she gasped when they displayed the picture of a little boy for the whole country to see. "Leon Kroos, the three year old son of Toni Kroos, is still missing. Police are currently investigating the child's mother Jessica Farber. If you have any news as to the child's whereabouts, please call this number: 1-800-xxx-xxxx." 

Before they had even said the child's name, his grandmother already knew from the picture. It was her grandson. She had been told Toni had given his permission for Jessica to take the child to Germany for a few weeks. 

And they were planning to take a plane to their country in the next week.

Mrs. Farber picked up the hotel phone in the night stand and dialed the number on her television screen. She told them everything she knew, and she told them the child was with her in her hotel room. Though she was Jessica's mother, she knew what her daughter was doing was wrong and that she needed to pay for it.

Police arrived at Mrs. Farber's hotel room within minutes. There was a swarm of armed policemen at her door, in case they would try to escape. 

They let her pick up the child in her arms, once it was established that she didn't know of the kidnapping and that she would cooperate. They led Mrs. Farber to a waiting police car and took her to the police station.

At the same time, another squad of officers had gone to Jessica's hotel to apprehend her.

When the police arrived at the station with Leon and Mrs. Ferber, Valerie and Toni were already there. Jessica's mom felt terrible when she saw the looks of worry on their faces. She couldn't imagine the pain they had been going through because of Jessica.

Toni and Valerie rushed to her, and Leon smiled wide when he saw them. "Mama, papa!" He said, as Toni took the child into his arms. 

"I'm so sorry, Toni." Mrs. Farber apologized. "Jessica told me she had your permission to take him."

"Its okay." He nodded, "I'm just so glad to have my son back."

Valerie hugged the two of them tightly, her cheek rested up against Toni's shoulder. And her tears were beginning to stain his shirt. Leon didn't understand why they were crying, but he was glad to see his parents. 

From the reception desk at the police station, an officer informed them, "Miss Jessica Farber has been arrested. Her mother will need to stay and give her statement as to what happened. But you are free to go home now."

"Lets go home." Valerie said with a warm smile.

"Mama," Leon said with a smile, his small arms reaching to hug her. He pressed his cheek against hers sweetly. "Will you and papa color with me?"

She nodded her head, "We'll do anything you want, pimpollo."

The three returned home as a family, and Valerie thanked her friend Ashley for keeping her company and helping them find Leon. Ashley returned to Barcelona that afternoon, and called to tell her friend that Marc was happy for them as well.

Valerie was happier than she had ever been since she returned to Madrid.

She had Toni, she had Leon, and a baby was on the way.

Now everything was as it should be.

the end

-

ayeeee the story is over. next will be the epilogue, which im really excited about, so i hope you like it. i'll probably finish it up in my history class which starts in fifteen minutes.

but yeah, thank you so much for reading this story.

it means a lot.

i love youuuu.

-clary xx