There was an obvious immediate aftermath to the bag being opened, and the viewers of the contents split off into two categories at opposite sides of the room. Just out of earshot of the SAMCRO members, Chibs stood with his wife and daughter trying to formulate a course of action. Kerrianne was still shaking, having been horrified by the sight of Galen O'Shay's head lying separated from it's body in a pair of his own pants. It was a perfectly natural reaction to what had been witnessed and Chibs couldn't fault his daughter for not handling the situation well. By her age he had already been married to Fiona and committed his first murder for the IRA, but he was glad that his daughter was still able to be shook up by violence. He didn't want his life for her.
He already assumed she'd been shocked into silence and was surprised when she finally spoke. "Da? Was that really Galen's head in that bag?"
One look at her told him she was certain of what had been in the bag but was looking for some other form of reassuring and he wasn't sure that he could provide it. Instead, he said the first thing that came to mind "sweetheart, Galen wasn't a good man." As soon as the words came out of his mouth he wished he'd spoke differently. On his tongue the phrase tasted strongly of what it was, that of a hypocrite. However, he decided to hope that his daughter hadn't realized that as well and shifted the conversation elsewhere "Why don't you go ask Nero if you can have a Coke to calm your stomach. I want to talk to your Ma alone."
Kerrianne left the room without another comment, and this relieved him deeply eventhough he knew that she would find out what he was discussing sooner rather than later.
As soon as his daughter was gone, Fiona turned to him. "How did Jimmy find out we were here?" There was nothing in her tone that accused him of being the cause, but there was obvious fear. The plan with the fake newspaper article had seemed completely foolproof. However, it had taken Jimmy O'Phelan less than a week to see through it.
"He has to have a source close to the club," after a pause Chibs added "we have to find out who."
"How?"
It was obvious that whatever he said next, would be words she would hate. However, he also knew that no matter what she'd go along with him and this made him regret what he was about to say before the words were even out of his mouth. "I'm going to bring him here and ask him directly."
Fiona laughed bitterly "Why would he do that?"
"Because he's a bloody coward and he won't be able to handle having a woman point a gun at him."
Once she realized exactly what he meant it became obvious that he'd hit the wrong note. Immediately, her lip began to quiver and it became obvious that the suggestion of being in the same room as Jimmy for any reason truly terrified her.
Softly, he took her face in his hands before speaking again "You know I would never do anything put you or Kerri in danger, and this time you won't be in danger either. I need you to trust me on that love."
"He's not going to come to the meeting without a weapon."
"I'll get him to leave it with Nero by convincing him I'm unarmed."
Although the fear had began to dissipate from Fiona's features she still seemed dubious, "What if something goes wrong?"
"Then you get to kill him."
xxx
Across the room Jax stood with Bobby and Tig. Rather than being shook up by the gory discovery, the young man seemed to be fuming. "This is all an elaborate set up."
Tig glanced over at the bag on the table several feet away. "That looks pretty real to me."
Jax glared at him before speaking again. "Think about it. Jimmy O'Phelan reveals that he's not as dead as Chibs assured us he was. Then only a few weeks later while we're trying to rebuild ourselves his wife shows up. Only days later Chibs suddenly decides he doesn't want to be SAMCRO anymore. He's been working with the IRA the whole time."
Bobby stole a glance at the target of Jax's aggression much to the younger man's annoyance. It was clear that across the room some conversation that couldn't be heard was going on, but from all the years he'd known Chibs the man had seemed to be someone who was level headed and steadfastly loyal. Although it was true he'd left the club, the anger and disgust he'd talked about Jimmy O'Phelan with over the years made it clear in his mind that his leaving wasn't a show of loyalty to the IRA and Bobby wondered if his stunt had motivations similar to his own when he'd "went nomad". "We've all known Chibs for over a decade now. If he was still working with the IRA don't you think it would have became evident earlier?"
"It's about survival." Jax cast one last disgusted look towards the bag on the table before continuing "Let's head back to the ice cream shop."
Tig immediately looked uncomfortable and looked down at where his hands were folded over his crotch in an exaggerated motion. "Actually boss, I have this weird thing where severed heads make me kind of you know..."
A look of confusion briefly flitted across Jax's face before he realized what Tig was trying to say. "There's something incredibly wrong with your mind."
Although the young biker's words were hypocritical Bobby was about to follow him out of the door until Tig nudged him hard once Jax's back was turned. As soon as Bobby turned to look at his he silently gestured to the former club member across the room.
Noticing Bobby wasn't following him, Jax turned around to look at the pair again as Tig returned to his uncomfortably aroused appearance. "Bobby are you with me?"
"Somebody has to keep Nero from catching him with Galen O'Shay's severed head."
The explanation seemed to satisfy Jax and he turned to leave the brothel.
As soon as he was out the door Tig immediately began walking purposefully over to where the former club member was still standing with his wife.
xxx
Chibs was so intently focused on trying to make sure his wife felt safe with the plan, that he didn't notice the approaching SAMCRO members until Bobby spoke.
"Is this a bad time?"
Chibs turned to look at the two men, a little irritated with himself for letting them get so close without his knowing. Quickly he glanced at Fiona who was wiping her eyes before speaking "It depends on what this is about."
"Jax thinks you're working with IRA", Bobby began before remembering that the woman who had just finished wiping her eyes had strong IRA connections, "other than your wife."
Chibs glared at him, "You have anything to tell me that I haven't already heard?"
Bobby gestured to Tig "neither of us believe that to be true."
If the declaration had any effect on Chibs, it didn't show on his face and he snorted as if brushing them off.
"We want to know what your next move is." That comment came from Tig.
"So you can run back to Jax and tell him what I've been doing behind his back?" Although it didn't fit what he knew of the men, Chibs immediately wondered if either Tig or Bobby had ran to Jimmy to rat on him and were now trying to cover their asses or were going to run to tell him rather than Jax.
"Whatever is said in this room stays right here," Bobby responded.
Chibs still didn't know if he believed either of the men, but if one or both of them seemed to squirm at his words maybe he could avoid having to actually involve his wife in having to be in the same room as the man who had raped and abused her for almost a decade. "Somebody told Jimmy that my family was here, alive. I'm going to find out who."
The look from the other two men was not that of guilty scared men, but one of curious friends. "How are you going to do that?" Tig asked.
Chibs glanced at his wife before speaking to see if she thought he should continue revealing the plan or just dismiss them outright. When she didn't try to stop him he continued speaking "Jimmy O'Phelan was never blessed with the gift of modesty."
Bobby looked skeptical, "he might be growing a bit sloppy with killing Galen, but he's still been smart enough to hide from us for two years."
For the first time in the conversation, Fiona spoke sounding much more calm about the plan than she had only minutes earlier. "We have ways around that."
A seed that had been planted in the two mens' heads earlier when talking with Jax began to germinate. It was the nagging idea that the president of SAMCRO had been the one to run to O'Phelan out of retaliation for Chibs leaving. However, Bobby was the only one to speak "We want in on this meeting."
Chibs was about to outright deny the suggestion, but something told him that he could learn just as much from the other men being in the room as he would from O'Phelan alone. Something else also made him want to stop the risk of them running to tell Jax about it if they weren't involved. "You two can be there as silent observers. If Jimmy has any suspicion he's going to be manipulated beforehand or Jax even knows of the meeting then both of you are as good as dead."
