Macy was MIA for four days, keeping her distance from both Opie and Shane, before heading back to the house with the baby. She hadn't thought about what she'd find, she just assumed it would all be normal, but it wasn't. The windows were covered, the back door was bolted and the kitchen had been turned into some kind of computer lab. As she snooped, the baby on her hip, Shane came up from the basement.
"Macy," he said, barely surprised she'd shown up.
"What the hell is this?" The horror was clear in her words.
"Work," he said curtly. "He's so big," Shane gestured to their son.
"He is," she smiled proudly. "He's shy around strangers," she explained as the baby buried his face in her chest.
"I'm not a stranger, I'm his father," Shane grunted.
Macy nodded. "Can we talk?"
"Can we?" He huffed. "I tried."
"I know, I'm a bit, uh, confused, Shane. Cut me some fucking slack," she said, growing defensive.
"Fine," he grumbled. "Say what you gotta say."
"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked quickly. "I know what you said, Jax scared you, but Shane, you know me."
"You would have wanted to fight it or come with me," Shane told her.
Macy nodded, a dumbfounded look on her face. "Uh, yeah, no shit," she scoffed. "Doesn't mean you still couldn't have bolted AFTER you told me what happened."
"I was scared, Mace," he admitted.
"And Jax took advantage of that," she clicked her tongue. "You see what he did, don't you? How he played you?"
Shane nodded.
"Why?" She tilted her head to the side. "What did you find? What did you dig up?"
The truth of her parentage was on the tip of his tongue but Shane held it back behind his teeth.
"Gun shit with the Irish, old Mayan shit from the 90s," he told her. "If I woulda went on the books with it there would have been a couple of life sentences, maybe a death penalty or two."
Her face went white. "No wonder."
"Macy, I'm sorry I left you," he croaked. "I'm sorry I left both of you."
Shying away as he reached out to her, Macy looked him up and down. "You're not you."
"I'm not," he shrugged. "Went kind of dark over there, I was a miserable son of a bitch."
"You still are," she remarked.
"I am," he agreed. "I'm sorry. I can never explain to you how deeply I regret it, how sorry I am," he said earnestly.
"Opie and I," she stammered, "We've been, kind of," she shrugged. "I don't know."
"You've been fucking him," Shane spat out. "I know."
Macy drew her head back. "Okay," she said, disgusted. "I don't know what I'm doing."
"Guess we're equal now," he grumbled. "We both abandoned you."
"It's not that simple," she scoffed. "If I could go back and do this all again, I would, but Shane, we're both so fucking different. Look at us."
"Right now I'd be happy just to hear you say you don't hate me," he whimpered.
"I don't hate you," Macy said staunchly. "I don't think I ever truly did, not deep down," she admitted.
Shane stepped to her and roughly grabbed her worst, pulling her in for a kiss. She tried half-heartedly to pull away but he didn't loosen his grip. Macy gave in, kissing him back, and instantly tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I miss you," he whispered, his lips brushing against hers. "Fuck," he slipped his hand under her shirt.
"Stop," she said forcefully. "Jesus, he's right here," she said, gesturing to the baby.
"Put him down," Shane said, his breathing already quicker.
"I don't want to," she snapped.
"I'm your husband," he said angrily. "Don't you miss me it was Opie enough to make you forget?"
Macy closed her eyes. "It's not Opie."
"Then what is it?" He asked, growing more aggressive.
Gritting her teeth, Macy put the baby in his bouncer and pulled Shane by his shirt into the kitchen.
"You are not you," she said, her hands on her hips. "This isn't the Shane I married."
"No, I'm not," he growled. "Ireland is a moss-covered shit hole and the Irish are assholes. Sorry if I'm a little rough around the edges Mace."
"I'm confused," she whimpered. "I'm...I'm scared of you too, this new you. You're so dark."
"Not scared of the murder you had in our bed? The gang member?"
Macy slapped him hard but, in a panic, immediately kissed him. "I'm sorry."
"I deserve worse," he chuckled ruefully. "You know, why don't you ask Jax and Opie what secrets they're still keeping?"
"What?" She asked, her confusion showing on her face. "What do you mean?"
"We had a nice little talk, cleared the air, why don't you see what else they're hiding before you make any decisions," he explained.
"I didn't say anything about decisions," she said with uncertainty.
"I know you, Macy," he laughed. "You left here the other day trying to decide what to do, who to be with cause we both know you won't be alone. You'll never let yourself be alone."
There was such a hurtful tone in his voice she couldn't figure out if he was being intentionally mean or it just came across that way.
"Stop being a dick," she huffed.
"You got no idea," he grumbled, pushing her against the kitchen island.
Shane kissed her roughly, gripped her wrists and holding her arms behind her, pinning them between her and the island.
"Shane," she moaned, remembering their rough nights in that house before he left. "I...I can't."
Stepping back, annoyed but accepting her denial, Shane nodded. "Go see your brother, Macy. Get some clarity."
"Why can't you tell me?" She asked, stepping back into the living room.
"Not my place," he cleared his throat. "I'll be here when you get done, though, in case you want to talk."
Macy's brows furrowed, her eyes on her, as she tried to imagine what this secret truth could be. Grabbing the baby, she allowed Shane to walk her back to the car.
"Love you, Mace."
"Just," she huffed, "The kitchen is work, right?"
"Yeah, this trip back to the states is multipurpose, baby," he smiled a little but it was lacking sincerity. "It's all good. Be careful driving."
With one last suspicious look, Macy got into her car and drove back to Charming after stopping to drop Shane at daycare. While she sat in the car summoning the courage and attempting to clear some confusion, Shane was at the house working on a job. It wasn't the kind of work he'd done before, the complete opposite actually, but it was better than what she feared.
"Macy?" Jax thumped his fist on the back of her car. "What are you doing?"
Startled, Macy gasped and scrambled out of the car. "We have to talk."
"Where's the kid?" He peered in her empty back seat.
"Daycare," she snapped. "Listen I was talking to Shane," Macy told him. "He said you're still keeping shit from me."
Jax huffed, his nostrils flaring, and grabbed Macy toward the roof access ladder that lead over the clubhouse.
"I fucked up," he said flatly. "Shane was digging, we were at risk, and Clay didn't wanna kill him because you loved him so much."
"Love him," she corrected Jax. "I still love him, Jax."
Gritting his teeth, Jax nodded and went on. "I spooked him, got him to leave, I'm sorry that hurt you, Macy."
"Thank you," she said, grateful for the honesty but even more furious that he was such a manipulative jerk. "I'm assuming there's a but coming, yeah?"
"Yeah," he sighed. "He's still doing something. I don't know what, Mace, but that little hacker setup he's got in your house is something."
"I don't want conspiracy theories," she groaned. "Your hatred for him aside, and please be fucking honest, do you think he's a danger? If I...if I tried to mend things," she was abruptly cut off.
"Do not trust him," Jax said forcefully, his voice wavering with emotion. "Please Mace, please be careful around him."
Looking at him suspiciously, Macy noted the tears in his eyes and his general unsettled vibe.
"What is it?"
"It's club shit," he blurted out before thinking. Seeing her annoyance, Jax relented and shook his head. "We don't think he's only working for the Irish. Since he came back, Trammel's replacement said there's been suits everywhere. No one is talking to him, he's too close to us, but something is happening."
Macy shook her head. "Why do you think it's Shane?"
"Come on, it's easier for you to hear it from everyone" he sighed heavily. "Don't tell Mom I had you in church, her head will explode."
"Jealous?" Macy asked with a little chuckle.
"Always," Jax said, putting his arm around Macy. "I'm sorry, kid. I never wanted to hurt you, I wanted to get rid of him."
Macy stopped and turned to look at him. "Admit it, Jackson. Admit you hate him and that played a part."
"It did," he said flatly. "I hate him. I hate that you married him. I wanted him gone but I didn't do anything until I had a real reason to need him gone."
"Thank you for your honesty," she whimpered sadly. "If you fuck with my life like that again I'll probably try to murder your ass."
"Won't succeed though," he laughed, motioning for her to leave her phone in the box.
"Yeah but you won't lay a hand on me either," she reminded him as they stepped through the chapel's double doors.
"Never," he smiled sadly, kissing her forehead before taking his spot beside Clay.
Jax leaned over and whispered something to Clay before the latter instructed Half-Sack to give Macy his seat against the wall. The meeting started they any other, quickly boring Macy as she sat quietly in the back.
"Alright," Clay grumbled, ignoring his daughter staring at him intently. "Juice, what did we have?"
"FBI and the ATF," he announced. "They've been sniffing around for weeks now but they're unpacking. Something is going on but no one got shit on what or why."
Macy's face twisted as she looked between Juice, Jax and her father. She wasn't sure why Jax wanted her in on this but it made her stomach churn.
"And the computer?" Jax asked Juice.
Juice shook his head. "I can't get in from the outside. Whatever Shane's doing he wants it protected. I've never seen a set up like it."
"Shane?" Macy asked, standing up but remaining in the shadows.
"Sit," Clay said in a gentler tone than he had hoped. It worked despite his softer words and Macy went right back to her spot.
"Declan said he's been a monster," Chibs spoke up. "He passed every test," he shook his head. "Walsh isn't the Sheriff's Deputy Saint we thought."
"How many?" Clay asked, seeing the horror on his daughter's face.
"The loyalty test was two," Chibs explained. "Since then over 25 for the Kings," he went on, looking at Macy. "Got yourself a man with a wee touch of the blood lust, lass."
"May I leave?" She whimpered, feeling the urge to vomit growing stronger.
Clay nodded and gestured for Opie to follow her. He hadn't seen or heard from her in days and it had thrown him for a loop.
"What is it?" She asked, grabbing a beer from behind the bar. "What was that?"
"Breaking down the mystery of Shane's last year," he shrugged. "We don't trust him. We don't know if he brought the feds with him or if it was a coincidence, we don't know if he's loyal to the Kings or the reaper-
"Or me," she interjected.
"You don't want his loyalty," Opie said darkly. "He's not who we thought he was, he was looking for an excuse to unleash this side of him."
Macy shook her head. "You don't know that."
"I do," Opie said somberly.
The doors opened behind them and Clay approached the bar with a deep frown. "I'm sorry," he said.
"It's not your fault," she whimpered. "I'm just gonna go."
"Stay," Clay offered. "We can have dinner, just me and you."
Trembling, Macy shook her head then downed her beer before rushing out despite Opie's protests.
Jax leaned in close to Clay with a concerned look on his face. "You better tell her now or he's gonna."