"Is it okay if I ask what was in that duffel bag...the one your friend bought by earlier?" Chibs turned to look at the girl, both surprised by her openly speaking to him and by the words themselves. Although he recognized her, he couldn't remember her name and had never interacted with her before.
At first he assumed that Juice for some reason had bought by something, but it didn't make sense that the girl wouldn't know exactly who he was, as he was sure he'd seen her go into a back room with him at least once. Still, he had to ask "did Juice bring it by?"
"No, Irish guy...didn't say much except that your wife had forgotten it and it was important. He insisted on putting it in your room." after a pause she added "there was a red stain on the bag, like blood."
Part of Chibs was simply irritated that the girl had actually allowed someone with a suspicious bag to come into Diosa, but a bigger part of him was curious. The description sounded like that of something other than a bomb, but delivering roadkill wasn't Jimmy's style. Whatever was in the bag had to be more than simply a dead dog. Trying not to seem too uneasy he got up from the bar and began to walk towards where Fiona was sitting talking with Lyla and Nero.
Quietly, he pulled her aside before speaking. "The IRA was here."
"Why would they be here?" Fiona hissed, "Jimmy thinks we're dead."
"Apparently he had a little present for us." Chibs lowered his voice hoping not to alarm anyone else.
"A bomb?" Fiona asked worried, "Should Nero evacuate the club?"
"I don't think so." Part of him also realized that whatever was in the bag might also be connected strongly with SAMCRO and he needed to at least warn his former brothers of it's presence. However, through one of the girls he'd accidentally heard a nasty rumor that Jax believed him to be a traitor to the club and had told SAMCRO to be careful what they said around him. He doubted if the other man would actually listen to anything he had to say even if it was something that needed to be known.
xxx
It hadn't took long for Chibs to convince Nero to get Jax to come to Diosa, and by the time the younger man arrived the bag although still unopened had found it's way to a table in the main room of the brothel. A horrible scent emanated from the contents and despite what the prostitute had stated, there was no way to describe how horribly it married with the ominous stain that had seeped through onto the leather bag from it's contents. Chibs tried to mask his expression of disgust, but next to him, his daughter who had refused to leave the room, looked like she was about to vomit. Part of him wished she'd take sense from her own disgust and run into the other room before he opened the bag, but he knew as a teenager she was extremely curious about the contents and he couldn't say he wouldn't have done the exact same at her age. At this, he chose to remain quiet and hope that whatever was in the bag didn't harm her mental state too much.
Planning to remove the contents himself once Jax arrived to watch, Chibs donned a pair of his leather riding gloves. Normally when he donned the gloves it was a sign of freedom and promise, of taking to the open road to forget his cares. However, this time the leather gloves would not grip the handlebars of his bike, but the rotting flesh of something likely dead and devoid of life. Part of him still hoped that it would just be a dead animal, but knowing Jimmy parts of an unwilling human victim seemed far more likely.
xxx
Jax arrived around fifteen minutes after Nero's call, flanked by Tig and Bobby. Immediately he walked over to the older man, ignoring the bag and the other figures in the room. "You wanted to talk to me?"
"Actually, it was Chibs that wanted you."
Jax turned as if noticing the former club member for the first time and briefly made eye contact with him before speaking. "I have no words with him."
Chibs glared back, irritated at Jax's inability to even engage in proper conversation with him but unwilling to snap with his wife and daughter standing next to him. "Jimmy left us with a little present. I thought you might want to be here for the unwrapping."
"This doesn't change anything." Jax continued to glare even as Tig and Bobby looked slightly ashamed at him.
Finally, Bobby attempted to break the tension "Is that the bag?"
"Aye."
Jax seemed like he wanted to be anywhere else and impatiently gestured towards the luggage "well, are you going to unwrap it or not?"
"No, I thought you might want to put it in the front of the ice cream shop as a conversation starter." When Jax didn't even bother to smile Chibs walked towards the bag as Jax, Bobby and Tig moved to stand where they'd have a clear view of the contents. Fiona and Kerrianne remained standing in the doorway with the former judging the room's hostilities and the latter unsure if she wanted to stay in the room but unwilling to bolt.
Uneasily, Chibs undid the zipper on the bag. At first glance the contents appeared to be a man's suit with a handwritten note on top of it. He had his suspicions that the writing belonged to Jimmy, but being unsure he immediately pulled the note out of the bag and handed it off to Fiona who stepped forward to take it.
"It's Jimmy's handwriting." she confirmed.
Before Chibs could respond to the confirmation, Jax cut in "what does it say?"
" I think it's a threat."
Jax almost seemed to glare at Chibs as he asked his next question, his tone underlying his own threat "against SAMCRO?"
Instead of outright answering she responded "somehow he found out about us being here."
Now, it was Chibs turn to feel suspicion towards his former friend, but he bit back his suspicions in favor of discovering the true contents of the bag. Softly he felt the fabric of the suit, feeling the outline of what appeared to be a face beneath it. Eventhough he'd suspected something dead was in the bag, this discovery chilled him and he immediately froze.
Bobby was the first to notice his shock, "what is it br-?" he stopped short of calling Chibs brother, knowing that it would irritate Jax and fearing the wrath of the younger man.
"I think I just felt a face," at his declaration he heard his wife and daughter both step forward and felt the former place her hand on his shoulder. Now, not bothering to be gentle anymore he jerked the suit jacket aside to reveal the face of the victim. It took a few seconds for him to register who he was looking at, but the others peering into the bag reacted immediately.
"Jesus Christ," Jax and Tig both exclaimed loudly.
At the same moment he felt the hand release from his shoulder in shock and heard a wet sound that he quickly identified as his daughter vomiting.
From the bag, the severed head of Galen O'Shay stared up at the group with one dead eye. If there had been any reason to feel mercy for the dead man, the bullet wound that had took out the other eye indicated that he hadn't been alive when his head had been severed from his body. However, the message behind the gory present was far worse than the present itself. Although Galen O'Shay hadn't exactly been someone to respect, he had seemingly kept Jimmy O'Phelan in line and now it was clear that the IRA general respected not even those among his own ranks. This combined with the growing rift between SAMCRO's leader and it's former member meant that there would likely be far more lives lost to the violence that was erupting in Charming.
