Page 26 of Enemy Within

He and Faisal had unofficially buddied up, staying near while deplaning from the London flight and moving toward customs control. They didn’t talk, but Doc felt Faisal’s gaze on him when he wasn’t looking, and he, likewise, kept one eye on Faisal and one eye on the crowd watching Faisal.

When Adam had come up behind them both, standing way too close for a stranger and clearing his throat, Doc had thrown him a long glare.

And then the fidgeting began. Adam shifted from foot to foot. Folded and unfolded and refolded the dangling strap of his backpack. Scuffed the toe of his boot on the frayed carpet. Cleared his throat, again and again.

Finally, it was Faisal’s turn at the counter. Doc stepped into the space he vacated, waiting behind the plastic flappers that kept the line pinned back away from the customs officers in their booths. He kept his head down, but listened as Faisal gave his name and passport over.

“Reason for your visit to the US?” The customs officer, a woman past middle age, with all the vibrancy and sour attitude of any government employee, looked over Faisal’s entry form before laying his Saudi passport on the scanner.

“Visiting friends.” Faisal smiled, but the woman ignored him. Her fingers slammed down on her keyboard, the clack-clacking of nails on keys like a rake against concrete.

Her keystrokes slowed. She frowned, staring at her screen. “You said you were visiting friends, sir?”

Doc’s ears perked up. Behind him, Adam froze, breathing hard.

“That’s right.”

“Are you traveling alone, sir? We’re going to need to ask you some questions—”

Fuck this. Doc pushed through the flappers and strode to Faisal’s side. He wrapped one arm around Faisal’s waist and leaned in close, dropping a kiss to his stunned cheek. “Hey, honey.”

“Sir, who are you? What are you doing?” The customs official stood in her booth, glaring at Doc. She pointed back to the line. “You need to wait your turn, sir!”

“Sorry—” He searched her uniform, looking for the nametag. “Desiree. Thought I could help clear things up a bit with my fiancé.” He tilted his head, resting it against Faisal’s, and smiled. Below the booth edge, out of sight, he squeezed Faisal’s hip, hard.

Slowly, Faisal’s arm snaked around his waist. He smiled and dropped a light, feathery kiss to Doc’s temple.

Desiree eyed them both. “You two are getting married?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Doc beamed.

“Why didn’t you fill out your form together?” Desiree waved Faisal’s entry form in one hand.

“It said families could fill out one form. I don’t know, I didn’t think we qualified.” Doc shrugged. “I just didn’t want to do it wrong. But we’re definitely family.” Again, he smiled, pushing his cheek against Faisal’s. God, Faisal had better be smiling, too, or they would be spending hours in a holding tank being interrogated by a grumpy cop with a beer gut and no hair.

Desiree pursed her lips again. Narrowed her eyes and glared at them both. Finally, she held out her hand for Doc’s passport and killed the warning screen that had flashed when Faisal’s was scanned, a string of codes Doc couldn’t make sense of. Doc’s passport passed easily, and she handed both back together.

“Congratulations. Welcome to the United States of America.” She nodded them through, already impatient. “Next!”

Doc hurried Faisal out of the lane. As he did, he caught sight of Adam behind them.

Adam looked wrecked. Pale, his hair mussed and standing on end, his fingers sliding through his long strands too many times. Wide eyes, dark with hurt, like a puppy kicked for the first time.

Well, what the fuck did he expect? He was the one who was supposed to be helping Faisal, not Doc. Why wasn’t he stepping up and doing what was right?

Sighing, Doc kept his arm around Faisal’s waist as they walked through the concourse. Their next flight, up to Anchorage, Alaska, wasn’t for another four hours. They had time to kill.

“You can let go now.”

Doc squeezed Faisal’s hip. “Let’s keep it going for a little longer. Just in case they put eyes on.”

Faisal stayed quiet.

“I’m starving. Jesus, that food on the flight was terrible. Let’s get something to eat.” He glanced Faisal’s way. “Anything you need? Want?”

Briefly, Faisal’s gaze darted over his shoulder, and Doc caught the twist and turn that Faisal aborted. “It would have been nice if he had stepped in.” A tiny smile. “Not that I am not grateful for your help.”

“Yeah, I know.” Doc frowned, sighing as they kept walking. A restaurant on the right caught his eye, along with the sign in the window. “Hey, this place says they do kosher and halal stuff. Is that cool for you?”