"Welcome to Toronto!"
Still disoriented from the drug-induced sleep, Macy was barely able to process what Shane had said. He repeated it, with much less exuberance, and Macy smiled just to get him to back off.
"Toronto?" She sighed. "I don't do well in the cold."
"You'll get used to it," he assured her. "It's got some really great views, Mace."
Nodding, she sat up to see Shane had managed to get her over the border into another country and into a fully furnished apartment while she was drugged.
"How did you do all this?" She asked, slightly terrified by the skill it would have taken.
"I got friends," he beamed. "It's kind of crazy what people will do for you when you both know the darkest shit about each other," he chuckled.
"Yeah," she sighed, "Crazy."
"Look," he plopped down beside her on the bed. "I know we had a rough start since I came back, suga, but this is gonna be good. I already got a job, we got a nice place, we can do this."
Macy looked at him dumbfounded by his casual attitude and, what she assumed had to be, stress-induced delusions. Shane was happy, somehow, and he truly believed they could be a family now.
"A job?" She asked, playing along. "Royal Mounted Police?"
"Other team," he said with a hearty, raspy laugh. "I know you like the outlaws so I guess it's fitting I join the other side."
"And what's the other side?" She prodded.
"I'm the point for guns coming over the border," he told her. "You know, for the Irish," he added.
"The Irish?" Macy couldn't believe they'd help him after what he had done unless the club didn't tell them or they didn't know. "Ho-how did that get set up?"
"You can talk to me," he told her, resting his head on her lap as he laid down on the bed. "You really want to ask why they didn't go running back to SAMCRO, don't you?"
"Uh, yeah, I do," she said.
Shane smiled up at her. "SAMBEL and the Kings have a much different idea of loyalty. I provide a service, one that is much more important than what SAMCRO provides. This is a private arrangement, no bikers allowed."
She nodded slowly. "Oh. I get it."
"I know this is hard," he told her, "But just like when we first started dating you'll shake off the feelings for the club and you'll see that this, here with me and our son, is where you're meant to be."
—
"It has been nearly three weeks since Macy Walsh and her one-year-old son, Shane Walsh junior, were last seen. Police believe her estranged husband, former Sheriff's Deputy Shane Walsh, murdered family friend Anthony Beach then kidnapped his son and wife but the case remains stalled due to lack of evidence and tips from concerned citizens. If anyone has seen any of these three please contact the San Joaquin Sheriff immediately. Shane Walsh is still considered armed and very dangerous."
Clay didn't turn the TV off, he hurled a chair across the room and sent it crashing to the floor. The police didn't have anything, that wasn't surprising, but the Sons had nothing either. That was hard for them to accept but especially since it was connected to Macy and the baby.
Watching the entire ordeal through a much different lens, Gemma could see how Clay, Opie, and Jax we're dealing, and not dealing, with the kidnapping.
"Just because we had our differences doesn't mean I truly hated her," Gemma said, almost offhandedly, to Opie. "I can see how this is tearing at you three."
"It's not tearing at you," Opie remarked.
"It is," she assured him, "I know when I can let it out. I keep wondering if she's cold or if she's safe and well-fed."
"I wonder if she's alive," he said, "And if she is, if she even wants to be," he added ominously.
"Ope," Gemma inhaled sharply. "I never should have hurt her. I shouldn't have let her leave that morning. I should have protected her."
"If you did it would have been you lying next to Beach in the morgue," Gemma caressed his face maternally. "She's smart. She'll find a way to reach out to us."
Opie wasn't as hopeful and while he kept his darkest fears from Jax and Clay he knew Gemma could handle it. "I don't know. You just said you wonder if she's warm and fed."
"At the worst of times, yes," she admitted, "But she's a Teller. That's gotta mean something."
Nodding sadly, Opie shrugged and let out a little chuckle. "Besides, she's always hungry," he joked to break the tension.
"Tell me about it, little thing ate more than Jax did growing up," she reminisced. "Oh god," she felt the urge to cry overwhelm her. "Ope, I want her back. I'd take it all back to bring her home."
"Gem," Opie sighed, pulling her into a hug. "It's okay. She's okay. He's too obsessed to hurt her and she's too smart to make a move forcing him."
"I hope so," Gemma cried into his chest.
—
"Where are we going?" Macy asked, watching in the rearview as Shane buckled the baby into his car seat.
"Dinner," he said vaguely. "I want you to meet one of my guys and his fiancée. Might be good for you to have a friend up here."
"Since you killed my last one?" She grumbled once he shut the back door and walked around to the driver's side.
"Sound good?" He asked, jumping into the truck.
"Yep," she smiled.
"Good," he slapped his hand on her thigh. "It's gonna be good."
"I know," she looked at him lovingly. "I'm starting to come around."
Shane smiled, leaning over to kiss her cheek, then pulled out of their driveway and off to dinner. The ride was quiet, Shane going on about the operation the Irish had recently set up and the group of guys he had working for him.
"He's not great but I think it's good to keep shit friendly," Shane explained.
"I get it," she told him. "Can I carry him?" Macy gestured back to the baby.
"I got him," Shane said sternly. "We're not there yet, suga. Soon."
They strolled into the restaurant toward the table where the other couple was standing to greet them as they got closer. Shane hugged the man and kissed the woman on the cheek before gesturing to Macy.
"Chad, Nicole, this is my wife Macy. Mace, this is Chad and his fiancée Nicole."
Macy and Nicole hugged while Shane buckled the baby into the high chair. When Chad moved to embrace her, though, Macy shied away.
"Sorry," he said awkwardly. Chad wasn't apologizing to Macy but hoping Shane wasn't angry by the apparent overstep.
"She's weird like that," Shane said dismissively.
Shane ordered himself a beer and Macy an unsweetened iced tea while Chad and Nicole sipped drinks of their own.
"Is ordering for you a Southern thing?" Nicole asked quietly.
Macy's mouth hung open for a split second. "Oh, no, it's just a Shane thing."
"They can't read body language at all," she scoffed. "Even I could tell you don't want the iced tea."
"I want liquor," Macy said with a chuckle.
"Have some," Nicole suggested. "When he comes back just order something."
Macy smiled and nodded although she had no intention of going against what Shane clearly wanted.
"How do you like The Tdot?" Chad asked a distracted Macy enthusiastically.
Looking up, surprised he was speaking to her, Macy hesitated. "Oh," she scrambled to find something believable and unsuspicious about the move. "I was expecting igloos and plates of poutine everywhere so I'm pleasantly surprised."
"The igloo gated community is just a bit north," Nicole joked. "It's nice, lacking poutine though.
Macy laughed, actually enjoying the forced socialization. "I'm good with that. Can't really get into it."
"You will," Chad said eagerly. "They won't give you citizenship if you don't."
"Guess I'll go back to the States!" Macy joked but Shane's face was dark as he looked at her. "Or just force it down for appearances."
"The latter," he said to her.
"Yeah," she shrugged and looked down, "Bad joke. Sorry."
"I have to use the bathroom," Nicole announced. "Wanna go?" She asked as she pushed her chair out front the table.
First, Macy looked at Shane for permission and only once he nodded did she stand. Macy followed Nicole away from the table but they weren't moving toward the bathrooms.
"I think the bathroom is to the left," Macy told her.
"We're taking the long way and making a pit stop," Nicole said. "Don't worry, Chad will talk him into a coma, we're getting you a drink."
"Oh no," Macy said quickly.
"You said you want one," Nicole reminded her. "You in recovery? Pregnant?"
"No," Macy shook her head.
"Then it's fine, just one drink," Nicole said as she knocked her knuckles on the bar. "Hey, two tequila shots."
"Thank you," Macy spoke quietly.
"No problem," she placed some cash on the bar. "You look like you could use some help relaxing. Don't like Toronto?"
"Just really new," Macy lied. "I'm from California, it's a whole new fucking planet up here."
"California?" Nicole asked with a confused expression. "Chad said you two were from Georgia."
"Shane is," Macy said, wondering how badly she was ruining the cover story.
Nicole nodded, "Chad isn't a detail man, he probably didn't get it exactly right."
The bartender placed the shots in front of Nicole and Macy and in seconds they were gone.
"To more shots," Nicole laughed, clinking her empty glass against Macy's, "And new friendships."