“Six or seven miles, but your best opportunity would come from a boat, which I will provide.” Evan took the map from his pocket and spread it on Manny’s desk. “There’s a little marina up this creek, right here. It’s private and untended, and I have a Boston Whaler tied up there. It’s black and has the name Waverider on the bow. The key is in a little locker under the steering wheel, and the outboard has a push-button starter.”

“Okay, and this map gets my guy there from the interstate?”

“Right down this little road,” Evan said, pointing. “All he does is start the boat, untie it and go down the creek a hundred yards or so to the waterway, then turn north. There’s a powerful spotlight in the boat, if they go after dark, but I’d suggest starting at dusk and approaching the place after the sun is well down. The house is here, marked by an X, and there’s a dock. There’s a sign on the dock with the initials M.L.”

“Will my guy need to go inside?”

“Maybe, but probably not. Mike has a drink or two on his back porch at sunset. Your man can approach him down the dock, as if to ask for directions, or if he’s good with a rifle, shoot from the end of the dock.”

“He’s good with everything. Is your friend armed?”

“He has a shotgun, but he keeps it locked in a cabinet in the kitchen, so it won’t be at hand. When the job’s done, your man should just take the boat back to the marina and tie it up, then drive away.”

“You understand, something like this will be expensive?”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Fifty thousand dollars, half up front, the rest when the job is done.”

“I can manage forty, twenty now.”

“You’ll have to manage fifty.”

Evan pretended to think it over for a few seconds, then he nodded. “All right,” he said, “but there are time constraints. I need it done tonight if possible.”

Manny looked at his watch. “That may be possible. If not, then tomorrow night.”

“No later than that,” Evan said. He took the envelope from the briefcase and removed three bundles of $10,000 each. He removed five thousand from one bundle, then slid the stack toward Manny.

“I don’t give receipts,” Manny said, raking the money into a desk drawer. “How can I reach you?”

Evan wrote down the number of his throwaway cell phone and handed it to him.

“I’m expecting a call from my man soon,” Manny said. “I’ll call you when I know. Here’s how we do the final payment: You and I will meet for a drink around the time of the work being done. When I get a call that it’s complete, you pay the rest.”