Page 18 of Knight

"The day before she went missing."

"Did you tell anyone else this?" I ask him quickly.

"No," he shrugs. "I didn't think it was important. After she told me, she laughed it off, like it wasn't that big of a deal."

"I think it was a really big deal, D. I'm gonna text your grandpa and then be inside."

My hands shake as I send a text to Mason with all the pertinent information that was just shared with me. I want more than anything to hear his voice, but I know as soon as he texts me back that he's on it, I won't be seeing or hearing from him anytime soon. While I'm used to it, it still makes me slightly sad.

Entering the house Kels and Nick bought not long ago, I love the sound of the family inside. Ella's squealing, and D is helping with her. When I go into the kitchen, I see Nick standing next to Kels, stealing a kiss from the side of her neck. She giggles. "Behave, Nick."

"Never," he chuckles, before turning, and that's when he catches me standing there. His cheeks color. "Sorry, I didn't know you were here yet."

"Don't mind me, it makes me happy to see y'all have such a good marriage."

"We try," Nick slings his arm around her neck. "I'm not always the best at communicating, or being the husband I probably should be all the time, but I do the best I can."

"When he starts acting a fool, I make sure to reel him in," Kels gives him a slap on the ass with her dishtowel.

He rolls his eyes and heads toward the living room where D and Ella are keeping themselves preoccupied. "I'll leave you two, to it. See y'all when dinner's ready."

Kels gives me a grin. "He's sweet, but hates to admit it."

"Mason can be the same way, but the person I want to talk to you about is Caleb. What's been going on? Your dad is supposed to ask him tonight."

She sighs loudly, shaking her head. "I don't know. I had lunch with Ruby the other day and she said they just aren't seeing eye-to-eye about anything."

"Do you know what it stems from? That's what I can't seem to figure out. I know it's probably not my business, but I want all of y'all to be happy and it's killing me to see them not be happy."

"From the incident that happened five months ago," she sighs.

Going back in my head, I don't remember anything that happened five months ago. "What happened? No one ever told me anything happened."

"I know," she sighs again. "He didn't want you to know, and neither did Dad because it wasn't a big deal."

"Obviously it was a big deal if it's causing this type of break between Caleb and Ruby," I argue. "I can't believe no one told me about this, whatever it is."

Kels looks like she wants to be anywhere but here. Like she thought she was going to get out of doing this, and I've just pulled her right back in. "He had a traffic stop that didn't go the way he assumed it would. The person who he stopped fought him, and almost got his gun."

"What?!" My mouth is hanging open, jaw on a fucking hinge. "And nobody told me about this?"

"He fought with the driver," she whispers. "Eventually the driver was subdued, and things worked out. It affected him. It affected Ruby because he wasn't honest with her."

"What do you mean he wasn't honest with her?"

Kels sighs. "He didn't tell her about it. She found out through the department shrink when he called trying to pin Caleb down for his mandatory appointment."

"Oh no." I can imagine how she felt. There was only one time when Mason decided not to tell me about what happened on a call, and I found out from someone else. It was one of the worst fights we've ever been in. It took a lot for us to come out on the other side of it. He broke my trust, and it took us months to figure out how to be honest with one another again. "That happened with me and Mason once. I'll reach out to her, she may not want to hear from me, but I have some experience with this and maybe I can help her."

"I can't. I've tried, but I made the mistake of telling her she needs to get over and be happy that her husband is okay."

A whistle works it's way out of my teeth. "Oh Kels."

"I know," she sighs. "I wish I hadn't said it, but I can't take it back. She's pulled away from me, and I don' t know how to change it. I've apologized, but it hasn't changed anything."

"Are we ready to eat?" Nick comes in holding Ella.

She sees me, offering me a gummy smile, and kicking her feet. "Come see me, sweet girl. I get to monopolize your time without your grandpa here." She squeals, reaching for me. I grab hold of her and hang on tight.

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