She looked at Sakura with concern and then at him with suspicion, but, once again, she held her tongue and stepped aside so that Milton could help Sakura to the door. He slung his bag over his right shoulder and pulled Sakura’s case with his right hand, his left hand looped around her torso. She was able to walk, but just barely, and he suspected that she would fall without his support. They reached the door and the cabin crew thanked them as they disembarked. An airbridge had been pushed into place against the exterior of the 787, allowing them access to the main terminal. Milton looked down through the windows to see the passengers from economy descending a portable stairway to the tarmac of the airport. They didn’t have the luxury of the air-conditioned walkway, and several fanned their faces in the late afternoon heat.

Milton helped Sakura cross over the uneven join between the airbridge and the terminal. The other passengers from first were heading toward passport control. The fastest had already formed a loose queue in front of a counter where an official was getting ready to check their credentials.

“Sakura,” Milton said.

Her eyelids were heavy again. Milton paused and pinched her on the underside of her arm, just above her elbow. She gasped and winced, her eyes snapping open.

“You need to stay awake. Have you got your passport?”

She looked at him with vacant eyes, her mouth open and her bottom lip trembling. “I don’t feel well.”

No kidding.

The cabin crew overtook them, walking together in a group. Milton saw Amber, but she took no notice of either of them as she and her colleagues diverted toward a door in the side of the corridor marked Cabin Crew Only.

“Where’s your passport?”

Sakura didn’t answer; instead, she closed her eyes and swayed forward. Milton anchored his arm around her slim hips to keep her upright. She was getting worse. There was no way that she would be able to answer even the most rudimentary question from the official, and he doubted that he would be able to speak for her. He shook his head. He couldn’t risk it, but if trying to get her through immigration was off the table, what next? She needed medical attention, but he knew that if he alerted the locals to her predicament, she would be in serious trouble as soon as she recovered. Life in prison, if she was lucky.

So he couldn’t do that, either.

So what could he do?

He looked around, assessing his options.

He was going to have to be creative.

13

Milton stiffened his arm to keep Sakura upright and looked up. The official in the booth had been joined by a colleague, and now they were processing the passengers more quickly than before. Milton saw two policemen just beyond the booths. They were both carrying medium-frame revolvers attached to their belts with lanyards.