Law of Attraction Read Online Free PDF Page B

windows. On one of the bookshelves, a framed photo showed Anna, her sister, Jody, and their mother smiling in front of the carousel at the Michigan State Fair. That day was one of Anna’s bestchildhood memories. Anna was twelve in the photo; her sister was ten. Anna held an enormous stick of cotton candy, its pink puff bigger than her head. Jody was in profile—for a decade, she turned her face just enough to hide her scarred cheek.
    Anna remembered the bloody crosshatch of scrapes on Laprea’s cheek where D’marco had mashed it into a brick wall. Would Laprea turn her face away the next time someone took a picture of her?
    Anna looked at the clock, wondering if it was too late to call her sister: 9:55—just under the wire. She set the cat down, grabbed her cell phone, and padded to the galley kitchen at the back of the apartment. As the line rang, Anna rummaged through her pantry until she found a can of chicken noodle soup. She dumped it into a bowl and stuck it in the microwave.
    “Hey, it’s my long-lost sister!” Jody greeted her. They hadn’t spoken all week.
    “Sorry, I’ve been slammed at work. How are you?”
    Jody told her Michigan had been hit with a snowstorm, but the GM plant stayed open so she’d made crazy overtime when others couldn’t make it in through the snow. While they spoke, Anna ate spoonfuls of soup. They lived such different lives. Jody had cheered Anna through college and law school, and encouraged her to take her dream job in D.C. But Jody seemed content to stay in Flint, working on the General Motors assembly line, like many of their friends. Jody had always been the stronger one. She had nothing to prove to anyone.
    Anna knew that much of her own drive was fueled by a need to atone for the unforgivable thing she’d done sixteen years ago in the kitchen of their trailer home. Jody had never berated her for it—in fact, they never spoke about it. Anna suspected they both avoided the topic for the same reason: their friendship might not withstand close scrutiny of what happened. Their relationship felt like the nuclear reactor built on the San Andreas fault line: a good and positive source of energy, always at risk of blowing up if the ground shifted.
    “How ’bout you?” Jody asked. “Are you running Washington yet?”
    “Hardly.” Anna swallowed a mouthful of broth. “In fact, it’s a constant struggle just to keep my cases from falling apart.” Anna told her about Laprea and how D’marco was trying to win his way back into her heart.
    “Sounds familiar,” Jody said somberly. “But is there anything you can do about it?”
    “I’ll call her tomorrow and give her the ‘go team’ speech. There’s an advocate—she’s like a social worker, she helps the victims get resources and support—I’ll make sure she keeps in touch. And I’m getting the guy’s phone privileges suspended. This won’t be like the other times. He’ll be totally cut off from her.”
    “Sounds like you’ve got it covered.” Jody’s voice held a smile. “Of course.”
    As they said good-bye, Anna felt reassured she’d done everything she could. She changed into soft cotton shorts and a tank top, washed up, and climbed wearily into bed. But sleep eluded her. The case kept running through her mind. She knew that however hard she worked, D’marco Davis’s defense attorney was working equally hard on the other side.
    •  •  •
    The next Sunday, Laprea peered out the small window at the top of her front door and watched the MPD cruiser pull off. Rose had taken the children to Sunday school, so Laprea had a few hours to herself, the sort of alone time that was so unusual for a single mother like her. She brushed away a twinge of guilt and allowed a smile to creep onto her face as she replayed the afternoon she’d just spent.
    Ten minutes later, as Laprea straightened up the kids’ play area, there was a knock at the door. She peered out the window and narrowed her eyes when she saw