He crept along the corridor to the first bedroom door, as he pushed the handle he noticed the pink decoration on the walls, this must be her room, he thought. He continued to push the door open and noticed a bulge under the comforter, she's asleep he thought, smiling, this was turning out to be easier than he anticipated.
Standing in the doorway he raised his weapon aiming for the sleeping body in the bed, he caressed the trigger with his finger, knowing the exact moment when he would exert enough pressure to start the mechanism, causing the firing pin to release the bullet from its chamber to begin its flight towards its destiny.
The sound of the silencer absorbing the sound briefly broke the silence, the impact of the bullet into the comforter caused pieces of the white fluffy lining to float into the air.
He pulled the trigger again, seconds after his first shot and watched as it impacted on its target. He paused, waiting for the pools of red to form on the comforter, ten seconds passed, nothing. There was something strange happening, he walked to the bed and pulled back the comforter, he swore under his breath as he was faced with a large brown teddy bear, it's stuffing pouring through two holes in its chest.
He threw the comforter back in place and hurried out of the bedroom, they were playing with him, taunting him. There was nothing better than a game of hide and seek and little did they know he won every single time he played.
He opened the next door and found the empty bedroom belonging to the baby, he quickly checked under the crib, just to make sure she wasn't hiding, he also checked the closet.
Satisfied the room was empty he walked back out into the corridor and checked the bathroom, returning to the corridor there was just one more room to check.
Grinning, he crept towards the door; he'd have his job completed within the hour.
Tara had heard the sound of the silenced gun, the realisation then struck, she was the last line of protection for Maddie and there was no way he was going to get her.
She flicked off the safety lock on her gun and positioned herself ready the second he entered the room.
He reached out and depressed the handle slowly, hoping that the woman inside was either a secretary for the F.B.I or maybe a lousy shot. He leant back against the wall as far as he could and quickly swung open the door.
He waited.
Nothing.
He cautiously stepped into the room, his gun extended before him and his eyes searching the apparently empty room.
As the handle on the door depressed, Tara lowered herself out of sight. He would be vulnerable for a few seconds if he couldn't locate her, he'd walk into the room and start searching. That would give her the time to aim and declare her position and hopefully by then SOG would be there to offer her back up.
She heard the door swing open and bang on the wall; she felt every muscle in her body tense. She then heard him enter the room and she could see his feet from under the bed.
Slowly she raised her head and gun, she ensured she was aimed correctly before announcing her presence, "F.B.I. drop your weapon!" she demanded.
He spun towards her his gun aiming for her, an evil grin spread across his face and his eyes glinting with power.
Tara didn't give him the opportunity to pull the trigger, she pulled hers first, her first shot meeting with his torso, the impact causing him to take a step backwards, her second shot also hit his torso, this time causing him to crumple to the floor.
Slowly she stood, moving towards him, her gun aimed directly at him, her eyes watching for any movement.
Movement in the corridor caught her eye and she squatted aiming down the corridor.
"FBI!" the man exclaimed heading towards her, he stepped towards the fallen man and pulled the gun out of his hand. He quickly felt his neck and detected a weak pulse; he reached for his radio, just as a second man entered the room.
"Agent Williams?" the second man asked, walking towards her, "I'm Matt Ward, SOG, sorry we took so long."
Tara looked at the man's kind face and registered the I.D. that he showed her, she smiled, "At least you're here now."
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to take your gun, there's going to have to be an investigation," he explained holding his hand out for her weapon.
"I know," she replied, "Is he dead?"
The first man replied, "No there's a weak pulse, the paramedics are already on their way as are our backup teams. Where's the child, Agent Williams."
"She's safe, I'll get her and take her downstairs, she doesn't need to see this," she replied nodding at the body.
"That's good, we'll guard our intruder until the paramedics arrive," Matt replied as he bent down to pat down the unconscious man looking for any further weapons or I.D.
Tara walked carefully around the man and went to the bedside cabinet retrieving the key before unlocking the door to the shower room, she quickly went inside and picked Maddie up, holding her to her body as she exited the room, passing the SOG agents and the man and hurried down the stairs. She quickly went into the living room and sat down on the couch, repositioning Maddie in her lap.
"Maddie, honey, you can open your eyes now, it's all over. The bad man will never try to hurt you again," she said waiting for Maddie to open her eyes.
Her stomach churned as Maddie did not respond.
"Maddie!" she exclaimed, gently shaking the child in an attempt to wake her.