Damned and Cursed (Book 6): Broken Home by Glenn Bullion Page B

adrenaline from her fight with Byron was starting to pass, and she thought she'd collapse at any moment.
    It was only Mary's back door that kept her going.   Her children were undoubtedly on the other side.   Mary had probably already called the police.   She needed to see them, make sure they were okay, somehow try to put this horrific nightmare behind them.
    "Mary!" Janet called, but her voice was a whisper.   Her hand fell on the knob to the back door.   "Mary, it's me.   Janet."
    Janet gripped the knob and turned it.   The hinges creaked as the door opened.   Normally she'd never step foot uninvited into another's home, but she imagined Mary wouldn't mind, considering the circumstances.
    "Mary!" Janet said again.   Her voice was finally returning to her, her breathing normal.   The only thing still uneasy were her legs.   She leaned on the counter for support.   "Mary?   Sarah?   Elizabeth?"
    The house was eerily quiet, except for the clock above the sink, ticking the seconds away.   She spent several minutes searching, calling out, looking inside every room.   Janet almost couldn't believe it, but the house was empty.
    Pushing aside the curtain in the living room, she glanced out front to see Mary's car was gone.   Did the children simply not go to Mary's house?   Janet dismissed that idea, as Mary's home was exactly where Sarah and Elizabeth would go, especially with Mark with them.   Did Janet not call the police, but instead drove the children to the station?   That path seemed to make the most sense.
    Marching through the living room into the kitchen, Janet reached out for the phone.   She nearly jumped out of her skin when it rang first.   The incessant ringing echoed though the still house.
    She answered it.   Before she could beg the person on the other end for help, a familiar voice spoke out.
    "Mary?   Are you still home?"
    It was her husband, Ed.
    Janet dropped the phone.   It bounced once off the kitchen floor and dangled from its cord, spinning in circles.   Ed continued to speak.
    "We're going to start soon.   Hurry up and get here."
    Her hand shook violently as she reached for the phone.   She slowly lifted it to her ear.
    "Ed?"
    She could hear the genuine surprise in his voice.
    "Janet?"
    Tears ran down her cheeks and dripped onto Mary's floor.   Janet was lost, confused, and for the first time in her life, hearing Ed's voice didn't soothe her.
    "What's going on?   Where have you been?"   A rush of anger overwhelmed her as the most important of the countless questions pushed its way to the front.   "Where are Sarah and Elizabeth?"
    "The girls?   What's wrong with the girls?   What do you mean?   I tried to call earlier, but the phone—"
    "What are you going to start with Mary?"
    "Look, it's not what you think.   Just stay there.   I'll be home soon, and we'll talk about it."
    The phone went dead.
    Janet didn't bother hanging it on the cradle.   She let it drop and hang.   A numbness settled over her as she sat at Mary's table.   She'd murdered a man, her husband was keeping secrets, and a visit from him was supposed to explain everything away.
    She didn't believe he was coming home, and that realization brought with it a pain she'd never felt before.   She thought her husband was lying.
    Thirty seconds had passed.   Janet didn't move at all.   It was only the thought of Sarah and Elizabeth that made her stand up.   She needed to find them, make sure they were okay.
    Taking a deep breath, she'd nearly made it to the back door when something on the refrigerator caught her attention.
    Mary kept a calendar on the door, with notes detailing her appointments.   Mark had to see the dentist in two weeks.   Mary had a manicure on the fifth of the month.   Her husband was scheduled to come back into town in another Saturday, although there was a question mark next to that.
    Under the current day was the letter X, just like Ed had marked on their own calendar.   Under