Page 68 of Nuts

“He did. Like I said, he was a violent prick,” he said dryly. “They did the world a favor when they locked his ass up.”

“Did he ever mention his brother-in-law?” I asked. “His wife’s sisters husband? Your uncle?”

“Not that I recall, no. But we didn’t talk much past when I was about eighteen. Not much up to that time, either.”

“Ever heard of Billy The Snake Schreiber?” Smudge asked.

Axton shot her a glare. “Do I look like a car salesman?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“A landscape architect?”

“No.”

“Resemble a 1%er at all?” he asked flatly. “Maybe a little?”

She chuckled. “Maybe a little.”

“Any man who wears a patch knows of The Snake,” he said. “Man gave his life for his club in more ways than one. We could all learn a little something from how he lived his life. Why do you ask?”

Smudge pushed herself away from the table and straightened her posture. “He was my father.”

His eyes thinned. After a moment’s thought, his lips parted slightly. He pushed himself away from the table, stood, and shot her a look.

“You’re Billy Schreiber’s daughter?”

She nodded. “Sure am.”

“That’d make him my uncle.”

“That’s why we’re here,” she said. “I was hoping you could tell us more about him. Well, that, and I wanted to meet you.”

He looked at me and then at her. He motioned for her to stand. “Stand up.”

She stood.

He looked her over. “As far as I know, you’re my only relative.”

“My dad was an only child, and my mother only had the one sister. If you don’t have any siblings,” Smudge said with a grin. “You’re my only relative, too.”

“I’ll be fucking damned.” He extended his hand.

She looked at his open hand as if he was trying to hand her a snake. She clenched her fist and straightened her arm.

He pressed his fist into hers, grinned, and then looked at me. “And you’re a Filthy Fucker?”

“Done a dime with ‘em so far.”

“Dime in that state’s like a lifetime anywhere else. It’s like the wild west out there, isn’t it?”

I nodded. “Can be.”

He looked at Smudge. “Did you know my mother?”

She shook her head. “Sorry.”

“You didn’t know my mother, and I didn’t know your father. It’s a damned shame you came all this way.”