Worth scowled. “You would have made a hell of a prosecutor yourself,” she muttered. “There are no useable fingerprints on the tube. I can’t explain why. Because the tube is small. Because one of the CSIs smudged it when they collected it. Who knows? It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me,” Anne said. She was beginning to feel sick to her stomach.

“Anne, you need to keep your eye on the big picture here. There is not a jury in Southern California that is going to acquit Peter Crane of kidnapping and trying to kill you. There’s no way. The glue isn’t even relevant. It’s not important.”

“It links him to the murders of Julie Paulson and Lisa Warwick. And to the attempted murder of Karly Vickers.”

“He’s not going on trial for those murders. He’s going on trial for what he did to you. And there is no way he’s getting out of it.”

“Then why am I so afraid he will?” Anne asked. Tears welled in her eyes. She pressed a hand across her mouth and felt assaulted by her own fear. Anger would follow—anger that she should be made to feel this way, then anger at her own inability to fight the feeling off.

Kathryn Worth leaned her arms on her desk and sighed. “Because that’s a part of it, Anne. Peter Crane made you a victim, and that doesn’t stop. It doesn’t go away.”

“Thanks,” Anne said. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”

“I’m not trying to make you feel worse, Anne. I’m not. But I’ve sat across this desk—and other desks—from a lot of victims. I know how it works.”

“I hate it,” Anne whispered, her throat tight around a hard lump of despair.

“I know. I know you do. I’m so sorry,” Worth said. “Are you still seeing your therapist?”

“Twice a week.”

“It takes time. My mother always likes to say time heals all wounds.”

“Your mother is full of shit,” Anne said bluntly.

Worth nodded. “Yes, she is. The best we can hope for is that the wounds scar over well enough we don’t feel them all the time. And we move on. We have to. Otherwise, the bad guys win.”

“I know. That’s what Vince says too.”

“You’ve got your own in-house expert,” Worth pointed out. “You’re ahead of the game.”

“That’s true,” Anne said, mustering a little smile. “And I’ve been going to a victims’ group at the Thomas Center. It helps.”

“Watching Peter Crane being sentenced to life without parole will help more.”

“Absolutely.”

“Don’t worry about this motion, Anne. I’m not concerned. I just wanted you to hear about it from me instead of seeing it on the evening news.”

“I appreciate that, Kathryn.”

“How are things otherwise?”