She put the mugshot back in the file, closed it, and set off for the courtroom.

On the way, she recited legal responses she could make to Gavin’s attorney, simple, throwaway phrases she’d memorized in case the panic returned. Andi had, no doubt, assigned the hearing to Lila to scrutinize her performance. Dovey would probably be there too, waiting for Lila to stumble. But the person Lila didn’t expect to see that morning was Sadie Vauk.

She sat on a bench in the corridor, her fingers twisted together on her lap. Lila recognized her from the pictures in the file and took a seat beside her.

“Sadie?”

Sadie looked at Lila with guarded eyes, and didn’t answer.

“My name is Lila Nash. I’m one of the prosecutors working on your case. I’m handling the hearing this morning.”

“Oh, hi.” Sadie tried to smile, but it looked forced. “I thought you might be one of his lawyers.”

“You don’t have to be here, you know.”

“I know. That lady from your office, the…um…”

“Witness coordinator?”

“Yeah. She said I didn’t have to come—that nothing much was going to happen, but…” She shrugged instead of finishing her thought.

Lila saw a slight tremor in Sadie’s hands, and she wanted desperately to hold those hands until the tremor passed. But despite seeing Sadie as a kindred soul, she and Sadie were strangers.

“You want to see him in handcuffs,” Lila said. “You want to know that he’s not out there anymore—that he can’t get to you.”

Sadie cocked her head, her eyes widening slightly as though Lila had just read her thoughts. Then she looked away and lightly nodded. “I see him in my dreams, his hands…” Sadie shuddered. “And when I wake up, I…I can’t seem to convince myself that I’m safe—that he’s not coming to kill me. So I thought…if I could see him, just for a second or two…if I could be sure.”

“You don’t need to be afraid, Sadie.” The words felt like something she needed to say, even as they tasted like a lie on her lips.

“But now I don’t think I can go in there. I’m terrified.”

Lila thought for a moment and an idea came to her. “Follow me.”

She led Sadie to the bailiff’s station, the office that organized security for the whole building. A bank of monitors lined the wall, one for each courtroom. And each monitor could switch views between cameras. Lila explained the situation to the chief bailiff, and he agreed to let Sadie watch the hearing on the monitor.

“You can go to the hearing if you want to,” Lila said. “But if you would be more comfortable, you can watch it from here. There’s no sound, but you’ll see Gavin in his jail scrubs and handcuffs. It’s up to you.”

“I’d rather watch from here,” Sadie said, and in her words, Lila thought she could hear a small measure of calm. “I’m just not ready to see him face-to-face. Not yet.”