I have ten minutes, if my calculations are correct. It almost seems too good to be true. Like fate or kismet has intervened to give me this opportunity on exactly this day. Because every Friday without fail, I know Paolo goes to town to pick up supplies for the horses and dogs.

I don’t really have a plan as I skid into the foyer and clutch the phone in my palm, but I know I’ll have to figure something out. There are still guards out front, and there’s a good chance they could stop me from heading for the stables. But Judge has been letting me go as long as Paolo is around. Will they check Paolo’s truck if they don’t know where I am?

As I’m considering it, I come to an abrupt halt right before I open the door. Shit. My necklace. It’s the one thing I wanted to take with me. The one thing I have from Judge. Indecision paralyzes me as I glance between the stairs and the clock. I don’t want to leave it behind. But I’ve already wasted three minutes, and my heart is beating so hard that I think I will miss this chance if I go back.

“I can’t.” I squeeze my eyes shut and shake my head, trying to put it from my mind. “I can’t.”

I release a shaky breath and open the door, wrenching myself out of it. All three guards turn to look at me as I do, and I force a smile. There’s no point in not letting them see me. If I went through the side door, they’d be far more suspicious.

“What are you doing?” the guy in charge asks.

“I’m going to brush the horses,” I tell them without waiting for an answer.

Part of me is half expecting them to stop me, but as I walk on wooden legs, I hear them mutter something before returning to their conversation, something about another guard getting his mistress knocked up.

I suck in a breath and try to quicken my pace without being obvious, slipping into the stables and darting through to the other side. They can’t see the back side of the building, and I’m just praying Paolo isn’t already at his truck. I ease open the rear stable door as quietly as I can manage, and I hear Paolo whistling somewhere nearby. It makes me pause, but I can’t tell what direction it’s coming from.

Regardless, I decide I don’t have a choice. I’m going to risk it. I step out and shut the door behind me, eyeing Paolo’s truck a good twenty feet away. I don’t know if he’ll see me running to it, but when I hear him jangling his keys, I figure it’s now or never.