This is an intense love story. How far would one man go to rescue the woman he loves?

Missing

4:30 am. Winnie checked the digital clock on the bedside table. It's time. She had been very lazy lately so now she was starting to feel flabby. Time for a run. She faced the right side of the bed, and smiled a sleepy smile at the man in her life.

She didn't know what time he got home, all she knew was that it was wee hour of the morning. Spike had a late night meeting, with whom she hadn't a clue. Lately, he had been secretive. She was aware he was a consultant with Canada's intelligence agency so she deferred to his wishes for privacy. She looked at his sleeping form. I don't know how you fit in so many things in a day.

Eventually, she forced herself to get up and change into her running outfit. She returned to the bedroom to borrow Spike's full-zip track jacket. It was oversize on her tiny frame but she liked it. She was supposed to have left the room five minutes ago but she couldn't move. She gazed at Spike and was unable to resist the urge to kiss his lips. Spike opened his eyes, squinted then turned to the other side. She followed to the other side and kissed the exposed part of his cheek. His answer was to grab a pillow and cover his face, and said a whiny, "Go away."

She smiled and invited Liley, the Canadian Eskimo dog and Moppet, the three-legged golden retriever to come along for the run. Liley didn't need a second invitation, but Moppet was not interested in the least. The golden retriever was always partial to Dad. She went to the bedroom, jumped on the bed and laid next to Spike.

Winnie shrugged her shoulders, accepting of the fact that Moppet was really Spike's dog. "Come on, Liley."

he pretty young woman dressed in body hugging black T-shirt, black tracksuit pants and a colourful, knitted cap to keep her head warm. She wore a pair of black hi-top running shoes. With Spike's full-zip jacket draped on her shoulders, she opened the door to let Liley out.

There were just a few cars on the roads, and even fewer pedestrians. The street lamps cast eerie glows in the mist of early Toronto morning. The cool, crisp air hit her to the bone. Ignoring the chill, she bent down to touched her feet, stretching her calves. She held this for a few seconds. She straightened up then bent her right leg at the knees, with her right hand she held it stretching the thigh muscles. She repeated this with her left leg. Satisfied with her preparation, she started on a slow jog, Liley patiently waited and took her time to follow.

The faithful canine was running about 50 meters behind. The dog could easily out-run her but she was not at top speed yet, she would be later in the park. Winnie was jogging in place while waiting at the street corner for the light to turn green, unaware of anything suspicious. Suddenly, a man jumped out from a parked van and grabbed her from behind. His right hand gripped her mouth while the left hand was wrapped around her small waist. Seeing the danger she was in, Liley didn't hesitate, in a single bound she leapt on the man. Her explosive power and weight of more than 65 pounds (30 kgs more or less) bore down on the would-be kidnapper. The impact of her contact was enough to topple him over to his side, releasing his hold on Winnie.

Liley howled with menace. The threat on her Mum raised her hackles and she bared her teeth. She was poised to pounce again, eyes blazing, when the man jumped back into the van and sped off. That was enough running for Winnie.

When they got back to the apartment, Winnie noticed she was hurt from the fall. She had a bruised chin, a black eye on the right side of her face and a sprained left wrist when she broke her fall. She got ice from the freezer to apply on her bruises.

Spike was still sleeping, which wasn't surprising considering it had been only 20 minutes since they left the apartment and were back again. There was nothing to do now but make a cup of coffee and watch the morning news. Her shift didn't start until 5pm, it meant she had a full day to do absolutely nothing.

She sat on the couch, her legs crossed underneath her. Liley stayed close, preferring to sit on the floor next to her.

It was another hour before Spike got up. He didn't get home till morning, but reading the digital time on the television screen she marveled that he was up at 6. She heard his footsteps, I don't know how he functions on very little sleep.

One hour was enough to ripen the bruises on her face, and the discoloration made her look like she was punched in the face. She cheerily greeted Spike, "Good morning, Angel boy," not realising the extent of her injuries was evident on her face.

Spike's face crunched, "What happened to you?" He cupped her face gently and assessed the very angry looking bruises. "What happened?"

She was undecided whether to tell him the truth. She didn't think there was any need to worry Spike, it may only be an isolated incident, not an imminent threat, but Liley forced her hand. The canine howled. Spike looked down at her and noticed blood on her lip, "She has a cut. Miss Sunshine, what happened? I want to know NOW." He sounded alarmed which alarmed her.

He wouldn't forgive her if she lied so she told him everything that happened. Spike went to his bedroom and logged on to his CSIS issued computer. Unbeknown to her, it was patched to the traffic camera at the street corner. On the monitor he watched the archived recording of the attempted kidnapping.

"How did you do that?" she asked bewildered.

Spike ignored the question, instead he made a call, to whom, she didn't know. When this was done, Spike pulled her in a gentle hug and nursed her wounds. "I don't think you should go to work today. I'll call Sarge."

She stopped him, partly miffed, "Why not? You guys go to work all bandaged up. Why should I be any different?"

"Ok, but I'm taking you to work."

He knelt down, gave Liley a hug and a pat on the head, "Good girl, thanks for saving Mummy." He checked her mouth to make sure she hadn't lost a tooth and might have swallowed it. "She seems fine. Only a cut lip."

They had coffee together and watched the morning news. Winnie sensed he wasn't mentally present, "What are you thinking?"

He wrapped an arm around her, "What made you think I'm thinking?"

"Cause I can hear the wheels of your brain clicking. Michaelangelo, what is it?" He stroked her cheek, "It doesn't concern you. Sorry, that came out wrong. What I mean is I don't want it to concern you."

Spike got up and went to a hidden cupboard. He unwrapped a box and lifted out a black bracelet. It didn't look expensive or precious. It was made of tough rubber, it looked like one of those cheap ones with inspirational words like love, faith, truth. He put it on her wrist, "Don't remove this, ok. Promise me."

"Ok. Promise."

Spike was scheduled for the night shift, she though had to start at 5pm. But he was unwilling to let her out of his sight so they all rode off at 3pm to take Liley and Moppet to her parents. By the time they reached SRU HQ, Winnie had 15 minutes to spare before she logged on. Spike couldn't be bothered to go home so he slept off his fatigue at the Basement with Babycakes.

He went up at 7pm in readiness for his 9pm shift. Winnie would finish at midnight. He wasn't happy to let her go home by herself but it wouldn't be fair to make her wait at HQ for nine hours, may be even as long as 12 hours as happened sometimes. He bumped into Troy and got an idea, "What time do you guys finish?"

"Midnight," came the reply.

"Cool, can you give Winnie a lift home? We came together but I don't finish work till 5am tomorrow morning?"

"No problem." At the end of her shift, Troy took her home.

It was a quick drive, the roads being mostly deserted. When the reached her building, Winnie turned to Troy and said, "Thanks, no need to walk me to the door, it's safe here."

"You sure? It's no trouble..."

"Yeah, sure. Thanks again." She leaned in to give her friend a haste kiss on the cheek.

She got off Troy's car who followed her with his eyes till she got to the main entrance. That was the last time she was seen.