‘If anything goes wrong, you get it out of here,’ Eddie told him. ‘We’ll use a warning code. If we phone you and say our names, like “It’s Eddie,” then you grab the key and go, quick as you can. If we say, “It’s me,” then it’s safe.’

Cheng nodded. ‘Okay. But I still think—’

‘Stay here,’ Nina insisted. ‘You’ve been in enough danger already. Ah ah!’ she added, raising a finger as he prepared to say more. ‘You want to pass my class? Do what I tell you.’

‘Yes, Professor,’ Cheng replied with a huffy frown.

‘We’ll get a cab to the tower,’ said Eddie.

Nina donned her boots. ‘Think we’ll make it before he can get anyone there?’

‘Should do, unless he’s got goons who literally live underneath it.’

‘Dangerous place. You’d be constantly bombarded by jumpers.’ She held up the brochure to show him one of the tower’s main draws: the Sky Jump, where thrill-seekers could leap from on high.

Eddie grinned. ‘I’ll stick with the lift.’

‘Okay, Cheng, wait here for us to call. Remember what Eddie said about the code?’

Cheng nodded. ‘If you use your names, I take the key and go as fast as I can.’

‘Good lad,’ said Eddie. ‘You all set, love?’

‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘It’s Miller time.’

From one hundred and ninety-two metres above the ground, the view across Auckland from the Sky Tower was spectacular. Both the east and west coasts of New Zealand were visible, the city built on one of the narrowest points of North Island. However, Nina and Eddie had other things on their minds than admiring the scenery. One was making sure Miller had not staked out the meeting; the other was right outside the window.

‘You were right,’ said Nina, watching as two attendants prepared a man in a bright blue-and-yellow coverall for the Sky Jump. The attraction’s summit was directly beside the bar of the Sugar Club restaurant, occasional screams rising over the soft background music as leapers took the fast way down to street level. ‘I think we’ll stick with the elevator.’

Eddie chuckled. ‘I’ve fallen off too many high things for free to want to pay to do it.’

She looked away from the platform outside into the main dining area, which curved around the circumference of the tower’s fifty-third floor. ‘What about in there? Anyone suspicious?’

He had recently returned from checking it out, pretending to admire the panoramic view while surreptitiously assessing the diners. ‘There’s only a few people. Two of ’em are an old couple, so I don’t think they’re hired goons, and the others were finishing their desserts. They’ll be gone in ten minutes.’