Page 76 of Deadly Target

She kept her hands on his waist until he was sitting on the floor, her eyes scanning his face. “Victor, it’s okay. I know Alfie was lying. Forget about him. Stay with me.”

Her face was now only the size of a pinhead. “I…love you…Olivia.”

Her hand patted his cheek. “There’s something I need to tell you, and you’re not going to like it. Stay awake and get pissed at me, you hear? Do not close your eyes!”

He felt someone tugging at his body as though lifting him onto a gurney. The EMTs were shouting things and there was a lot of scuffling, but none of it penetrated the haze of unconsciousness descending on him.

Olivia was holding his good hand like a vise grip. “I am serious, Director, I need to unburden myself before you go falling in love with me.”

He tried to grin, failed. “Too late.”

“I’ve been investigating you.” Her voice floated in and out of his hearing and all he wanted to do was go to sleep. “There’s someone higher up in the Justice Department that suspects you of doing exactly what Alfie accused you of. They sent me to get close to you and see what I could…”

An oxygen mask slipped over his mouth and nose and someone pushed Olivia away. Everything seemed transparent, his body floating into numbness, her words nothing more than an echo in his brain.