Disclaimer: I don't own Sons of Anarchy or any of the characters in the show. It's the property of Kurt Sutter, Sutter Ink and FX.
This story is completely stand alone and you won't have to read any of my other stories to follow what's going on in this.
For the new readers: Let me know if you have any questions, I make it my business to always answer them. Also I'm on twitter R31M4y3r and I answer there as well.
To my wonderful, patient and loyal readers: Please don't despair. I'm still writing on all stories, 'Just Breathe' is included in that statement. The next publish will be for 'Brighten the Corner'. I'm not trying to confuse you but I'm assuming that most of you are reading a whole bunch of SOA-stories anyway so I'm sure one more won't make it more confusing.
Like I've said earlier, I was not planning on writing another Happy-story but this one popped up and unlike some of the others, it didn't disappear and once I started thinking about it, it started sounded good. So... 'Give it a Day' is still priority until I'm done with it. I have all the chapters sorted and it shouldn't be that hard. I also have two or three more chapters for 'Brighten the Corners'. I'm currently researching the Tig story (lots of research on that one, It will be called 'Into Dust' btw) and finally, the poor 'Just Breathe'; I know where it's heading but it's a bit on the back burner. It will be finished sooner or later though, promise. I love Quinn and Lisa too much to let it go so no worries.
As usual, the first chapter of a completely new story in a new setting is a bit longer. This takes place before the first season and is, to some extent, AU.
1: Modus Tollens
a. The way that denies by denying
b: denying the consequent
-o0o-
Redwood had called for them the week before. It was a full blown war and it was reaching it's peak. Four of them had left from Tacoma. It was him, Happy, Lorca and Bowie. There had been some discussion on whether he should really go, considering the problems he had with Tig but he insisted. The only one who really knew why he insisted was Hap. All the clubs over the country was in lighter versions of lockdown from the next day and Redwood would go into full lockdown. Everyone had gathered anyone that could be in the slightest risk. Family, friends, girlfriends and ex-wives.
They were all set, all of them, except Kozik.
"Anyone we're missing?" Clay, the Redwood president asked and Kozik took a final look at Hap who refused to meet his eyes. 'Fucking chicken shit bastard,' Kozik thought and turned to Clay.
"Yeah. I need to get someone."
"Who?"
How the fuck did he explain this? "My cousin. We're close. Need to pick her up."
He could feel Hap's stare but ignored the fucker. He had his chance. Hell! He'd had a whole series of chances and had fucked up every single time. If he was to scared to do this, Kozik would.
"We're locking down tomorrow morning so you've got until then. And bring someone with you." Clay looked around the table. "That goes for all of you, you don't ride alone."
"Sure."
The meeting ended and he half expected Hap to attack him the second they stepped out of the chapel but he didn't. This would be the best lockdown ever. He would have to avoid both Hap and Tig while balancing that with the little lady he was on his way to go and get.
Chibs, Jax and Lorca volunteered to go with him to LA. Lorca jumped the opportunity to be honest, he probably had a hunch on who they were picking up.
-o0o-
They rolled up outside the huge house Joanna lived in. She didn't live there alone, as far as Kozik knew there were six other people living there crammed together. Four guys and two other girls. She'd been living with them for the last two years and they were all about working, surfing and partying. Detached and impersonal, the way she liked it. It was weird, she didn't get close to people, didn't want to, but she couldn't live alone and always managed to find people who wanted to live like this, doing exactly this. He'd asked he when she planned on growing up and she answered with a shrug and a smile.
He rang the door and it was opened by a tall, very tanned, blond guy. Obviously a surfer.
"Is Joanna in?"
"No. No idea where she is, haven't seen her in days."
Kozik really hoped this guy wasn't planning on picking up poker because he had the worst pokerface.
"I'm Kozik."
"Oh. Ok. I though..."
"I know what you thought. Is she in?"
"Nah. She's at the Drunken Huntsman." The guy gave him a smile. "Rent's due tomorrow and she wanted to cash in. Want directions?"
"I know where it is. You sent her there alone?"
"Dude! Course not! Two of the other's are there as well. Wouldn't let her go alone." He shrugged. "We all pitch in and if you know her, you know she's doing it for fun more than the money."
He shook his head and they went back to their bikes.
"Hooker?" Jax asked and Lorca huffed, shaking his head he looked at Kozik. By now he was sure of who they were picking up.
"She's a hustler," Lorca said and when Chibs gave Kozik a strange stare he shrugged.
"She is," he confirmed.
"Poker?"
"Pool."
-o0o-
Jax was really curious about this girl. He wasn't convinced she was Kozik's cousin but he was willing to play along for a while. Unless she seemed to be trouble it didn't really matter. If Kozik claimed she needed protection that was all it took. They'd bring her in.
It was a shitty fucking bar. Along the bar counter were ragged whores, some of them decent looking but most of them not. The inside room was filled with pool tables and they were all occupied.
"So who is it?" Jax asked and looked at the blonds with big tits. They looked like someone Kozik would know.
Lorca nodded towards the inner room. "She's probably in there."
Jax shrugged and they walked inside. There were mostly younger kids in there, looking like students or surfers and in the corner there was a brawl. No one were taking swings yet but it looked like it could easily get to that.
Three men were yelling at a woman. She maintained calm, talked to them but the guys behind her looked ready to have a go at anyone who got too close to her. It was getting out of hand and suddenly the woman grabbed a cue from the pool table and held it in front of her.
"Listen to me carefully. It's not my fucking fault that you can't play pool for shit. And now that you know you can't play pool for shit, maybe you should stick to jerking of in your dorms instead of thinking you can make an easy buck from a hard working woman."
Jax turned to Lorca. "Tell me it's not her."
"That's her," he said and confirmed Jax's suspicions.
She wasn't tall. She was skinny, hardly any tits, wearing jeans, martens, a tank top with a tight fitting vest above it. Her hair was short, dark and she was... not ugly but not beautiful either. Her nose was a bit too big and her mouth slightly crooked, skewed. Not a lot but you could see that the right side of the lower lip dipped further when she smiled even if it was more smirks that was on her lips at the time. Her entire appearance told you that no matter her size, she'd rip off you balls if you made a wrong move.
When she saw them she froze, before giving Kozik that big, crocked smile. Jax had to admit, that even if she wasn't a classic beauty, there was something about this girl and he was very, very curious about her and how she really knew Kozik.
"Herman, do I need to worry since you seem to have brought a small army with you?"
"Depends on what you're worried about," Kozik said and walked up to her, giving her a hug. "Long time since a saw you."
"Aw, you know why." She looked at the three men she'd been arguing with not a minute earlier. "Now, they're either here as my friend, and you're in trouble. Or they're here to have a go with me and these boys don't share. Either way, you're fucked."
They took the hint and disappeared.
"Still hustling I see."
"As long as men are suckers, I'll be hustling." She nodded towards the bar. "Wanna sit?"
"We're short on time. We need you to come with us."
"Shit." She shook her head and laughed. "Why?"
"We're bringing everyone in for a lockdown and being my cousin, I want you protected."
Her reaction made Jax sure even if it was damn subtle. If he hadn't been looking for it he'd missed it. Even so, she was not Kozik's cousin but she didn't protest. "Bring me, where?"
"Clubhouse in Charming."
"For how long?"
"Probably a week."
"I have a job, I can't just run off for a week."
"Call in sick. We can get you a medical certificate."
Kozik dragged her further into the corner and they had a silent, private talk. Something he said made her stiff, she almost looked scared was reassured with a hug and she nodded. Jax was getting the distinct feeling that there was a lot more to this than he had guessed so far.
When they were done they came over, Kozik with his arm around her shoulder. She gave Lorca a careful hug and he mumbled something into her ear as well.
"I need to get some things from my house, I hope that's ok?" She looked at Jax when she said it and he nodded.
"Sure. Pack for a week." He put out his hand. "Jax."
Taking it, she smiled, "Joanna."
She had a quick word with the two guys she'd been with and then they finally walked out to the parking lot. They followed her old, shitty volvo to her house. Lorca and Kozik went with her inside and left him and Chibs alone.
"Any idea what this is really about?" Chibs said as he lit a smoke, sitting on his bike.
"Nope. But she's not his fucking cousin."
"No, she's not. Future Old Lady?"
"Doubt it. She knew Lorca as well, seems to have known them for a while. But there's definitely something fishy going on."
"I still think he wants to nail her."
"Maybe," Jax said with a shrug. Most guys would nail anything but she wasn't like the normal bitches hovering around the club spreading their legs to anyone asking. "She's not a sweetbutt."
Chibs laughed. "Don't think she's ever been one. And no smart person would hustle at a clubhouse. You need to be smart to make a livin' outta hustlin'."
"Sounded like she had some legit job as well." Not like she'd need a doctor's excuse from hustling. "Guess we'll have to wait to find out. I'll talk to Clay when we get back anyway."
The three of them came back out and Jax was surprised about the small duffel bag she was carrying. She had a backpack as well but even with that one she didn't seem to bring a lot.
"You know you're going to be away for a week?"
"Yeah?" she said as a confused question so Jax just turned to straddle his bike. Joanna got into her car and they took off.
-o0o-
Once she was finally alone in her car, Joanna let her mind wander. She was not happy about this at all and would've wanted to refuse. But just the fact that Kozik had sought her out told her that this was the real deal. She'd asked him if he thought her friends might be in danger since they shared address and all but he assured her that it wasn't the case. That they wouldn't have any interest in them and that even bringing her in was a mere precaution.
It felt weird to drive like this. She had two bikes ahead of her and two behind. Made her feel like the president or something and she giggled to herself when she thought of it. The giggle got stuck in her throat when she remembered where she was heading and that Happy would be there. When she had realized that it might be the case she asked Koz and he admitted that he was. When he saw her reaction he assured her that Hap wouldn't try anything, that no one even knew who she was, she'd still agreed. She wasn't as sure as he seemed to be that she'd be able to stay out of his way for a full week but still, if he'd gone through the trouble of bringing her in, Koz thought she might be in danger and that scared her more than Hap did.
Joanna hadn't seen him in almost five years, the last time being on her thirtieth birthday. It was a memorable night, for more than one reason.
-o0o-
Happy was sprawled out in the clubhouse couch, a beer in one hand and the other one around a blond with big tits. Really big tits and lots of curves. Tall too, basically all the things Jo wasn't, that should get to her. He knew he looked calm but his mind was racing.
When Chibs walked in he turned his attention from the door. It took enormous willpower to do it but he managed. The blond, he seemed to remember her name being Tiffany, leaned towards him and asked him if he wanted to take it to his dorm.
He shook his head, "Later, baby."
Jax came over to talk to Clay who was in the armchair next to the couch.
"Any problems?" Clay asked.
"Nah, but I'd bet my left nut on her not being Kozik's cousin."
"He wouldn't bring in some bitch just to nail her. She's something to him."
Happy knew he clenched his jaws and turned his head to look towards the door. In the last five years he'd only seen one picture of her. The only one he'd kept. It was an old one from when she was in New York. It was taken of her mid laugh with big billboards behind her. All those features she had, in his head he'd turned them into something... ugly.
Everything in her face looked too big, the nose, the crooked mouth and the eyes. Even her eyebrows were big in the face that narrowed to a pointy chin. A perfect heart-shape his mom used to say. When he saw her now, he remembered that the most striking thing about her was her charisma and that it made you forget anything that could've been seen as a flaw.
Despite havnig the body of a teenage boy, the facial features that in some ways were all wrong, she had a charisma that could knock people down. He'd once told her that she had the ego and the balls of a six foot body builder in a small woman's body, she'd laughed and immediately agreed. It was easy to forget her size when you'd been around her for a while.
She didn't look that cocky now. Standing between Kozik and Lorca, taking in the room. She always did that and he knew she'd do fine. Her natural survival instinct made her blend in to every fucking environment she was in. You could drop her off anywhere and in a couple of hours she was all attuned to it.
Wherever she'd been hiding it wasn't far from here. Kozik hadn't been gone that long and when she reached for the bag he noticed the blue chalk on her fingers. Obviously she was still hustling, he shook his head, the bitch never learned. Hopefully she was still staying away from pickpocketing though.
-o0o-
Tig glared at Kozik and the bitch he just came in with. His cousin. He was so going to nail the shit outta that bitch just to piss Kozik off. He was going to make her scream his name loud enough for everyone to hear. Koz especially.
-o0o-
Kozik handed Jo her bag.
"I'll show you to my room."
"I'm staying in your room?" she said and Lorca laughed.
"We're cramped, Peanut. I promise to not bring any bitches in there and I'll sleep on the floor."
"Don't think she's the problem when it comes to her sleeping in your room," Lorca mumbled but not low enough because Jo heard it.
She made a face and glanced in Hap's direction, "Don't think he gives a shit." She took the bag. "Show me."
He couldn't help noticing Hap in the couch with the blond next to him and felt like walking up there and beat the shit outta him. It was so fucking obvious he did it to get to Jo. And if he knew it was the reason, so did she.
Walking Jo through the crowd he also noticed Tig's eyes on her. A battle between Tig and Jo would be something to see and he smirked at him and put his arm around Jo's shoulders. That would most certainly get Tig's attention and he'd go for her like a stud smelling a bitch in heat. It would be fun to watch and at the same time agitate Hap. Both of them deserved it.
Kozik didn't have any ulterior motives to bring Jo here, he just wanted her safe, but if he could get her and Hap to talk and at least sort some of their crap out, it would be good.
He unlocked the door and held it open. She stepped over the threshold and looked around.
"Lovely, Koz. Did you make an effort to make it smell like stale beer and pussy just for my sake?"
"Absolutely. Wouldn't want you to get the wrong impression of me."
She looked at the bed and sighed, "Any chance I can get clean sheets at least?"
"We're not going in to complete lockdown until tomorrow. I'll take you out so you can wash them and we can get something to eat."
"I'd like that," she said and thew her bag and backpack on the bed. When she turned around she took a deep breath. "Can you give me five minutes to... breathe?"
"Sure." He took a closer look. "You know he's just trying to piss you off."
"I know," she said with a nod. "He's always been... really good at pissing me off."
"He'd stop if he noticed that he was successful." Kozik wasn't exactly worried but he wanted this to be as easy as possible for her. Not that he wanted her to have a fit and have a go at Hap, that would be bad all around but she could at least look like she gave a shit. That would be enough for that proud prick.
"I know. Just don't want to give the fucker the satisfaction."
Kozik sighed. Jo acting like she cared wouldn't happen then. He was looking forward to this week about as much as he looked forward to drinking a bucket of bleach. It would be hell and he was starting to wonder if he hadn't overreacted. She might've not needed to come here. In fact, she might be in bigger risk being here than being in a bar full of drunk, huge men, hustling their money.
As he walked to the corridor, Hap came out of nowhere and shoved him against the wall.
"You fucking idiot."
"I'm not the fucking idiot and you know it. Just ignore her, I know you're good at that."
That was a flat out lie from Koz' side. Hap could never ignore Jo, ever, and it drove him insane when she did it to him. But it had been five years and the stubborn fuck had hardly ever mentioned her so maybe he could start now. He could see Hap clench his fist but instead of hitting he stepped back and walked away.
-o0o-
For a second Bowie was sure that the acid he'd dropped the week before was making him see things when the black haired woman came walking from the dorms. He shut his eyes and opened them again. She was still there.
"Peanut?"
She turned to him and when that very recognizable smile graced her face he was sure. It was her.
"Bowie!" Jo came up to him and gave him a hug. "How are you?"
"Fuck, girl! I thought I was seeing things."
"Been popping pills, have we?" she said and patted his cheek.
"One or two, maybe." He took her hand. "How the fuck did you end up here?"
"Kozik picked me up. Said it was best."
"He's right. I'm glad you're here." He looked at the bag of sheets she was holding in her hand. "Are you into steeling bedlinen now?"
"No. I'm washing them. No fucking way I'm sleeping in a bed full of this guy's juices." She nodded towards Kozik who came walking towards them. "Wanna tag along? We're getting something to eat as well."
Jo sleeping in Kozik's room? Nice, this could be really interesting and Bowie was definitely going to stay the fuck away from Hap this week. He wasn't going to stay away from Jo though and being on guard detail in the clubhouse suddenly sounded like a lot more fun. He'd missed her.
"I'll tag along," he said and picked up his things.
As he walked outside he noticed Hap's glares at him. What did the fucker expect? None of them had any idea why she took off and it wasn't like he told them shit. He wanted to talk to her so Bowie just glared back. Fuck him!
Once the bedding was in the wash they walked over to the diner on the other side of the street and they ordered food. Watching Jo order was always a blast. Despite being tiny, she ate a lot. She had the metabolism of a hummingbird.
"So, Peanut, where have you been?"
"Around. Lately I've been in LA. The last two years. The surf is great there."
"And Koz here has been in contact with you the enitre time?"
She didn't answer and when she looked at Koz he turned to Bowie.
"Just in case she needed help. It's not what you think."
"You don't even know what I think."
Koz wouldn't make a pass at her. Bowie knew that but keeping Jo from Happy was an all around bad idea. Not that he was sure if Hap had even looked for her. Since she disappeared he hadn't even heard him mention her and no one had dared to mention her to him.
"I've only kept him updated on where I've been. Nothing else, Bowie." She turned to the laundromat. "I'll just dash over there and put it all in the drier."
Koz got up as well. "No walking around by yourself. Watch the food." The last part was to Bowie and he nodded.
He heard Jo chant 'Clean sheets, clean sheets,' on her way and he shook his head. Once they were gone he leaned back and picked up the phone to call Lee.
"What's up?"
"Just want to make sure you know that Kozik had picked up Jo for the lockdown."
"Yeah, I just heard. He said she was his cousin in church. Lorca filled me in."
"Think we should tell them the truth?"
"Fuck me if I know. Not sure what would piss that grumpy fuck more; them knowing or not knowing."
"Does it matter what they think? Not like she's a risk."
"I'm gonna have to talk to Clay at least. His club, his decision."
"Yeah. We'll be back soon. She just put the sheets in the drier."
"What?"
"She's washing Kozik's sheets." Bowie had to admit it, he loved this and he couldn't wait to drop the bomb on Lee.
"Why?"
"She's sleeping in his room."
There was a long silence."Is he on drugs again?"
"Imagine that. I was thinking the same." He saw them coming out of the laundromat again. "We'll be back soon."
-o0o-
Lee hung up the phone and took a deep breath. He located Hap in the couch with a blond clinging to him. Clay was in church with Jax so he went inside.
"Need to have a word, if you got a moment."
"This wouldn't have anything to do with Kozik's cousin?"
"Yeah. It does."
-o0o-
Joanna was very happy about the clean sheets. Just the thought of sleeping in Koziks cum- and sweat stained sheets had made her sick. She'd already decided to use the time the next day to clean the room. It was filthy and smelled really funky.
Hap was in the couch with the same blond in his lap and she didn't stop to take a closer look, only kept on walking towards the rooms.
"Jo!" someone yelled and when she turned around she saw Lee in the door to what she assumed was the chapel.
"Hi!"
"Come here a sec."
"Can I just take these back to the room?" She held up the paper bags with the clean sheets.
"Give 'em to Koz. He'll take them." He turned to Hap in the couch. "You too."
With a swallow she handed the things to Koz before following Lee into the room. There were two other men in there, already waiting for them. One had been with Koz when he picked her up and she'd noticed that he was the VP. The other was the president, judging from his patch, and she had a vague memory of him being called Clay.
Hap came in and closed the door behind him. He had lipstick on his neck and underneath his ear and when he saw her looking, he smirked. Joanna focused on Lee again.
"I explained to Clay and Jax and we want to know if we're going to have a problem with the two of you being in the same clubhouse?"
"No," Joanna immediately answered without looking at Hap.
"No," Hap said after a brief pause. "Why would you?"
"That would've been a little more convincing if the two were able to look at each other," Clay said while looking at them. "Just stay the fuck away from each other and I'm sure we'll be fine."
"Sure. We've been good at that so far," Joanna said with a smile and it grew when Hap growled next to her.
"Hap, stay for a sec. You can go," Lee said the last part to Joanna and she walked past Hap without looking at him.
"Joanna!" It was Clay and she turned in the doorway. "I'll have my wife introduce herself to you later. She'll show you the ropes."
"Good," Joanna said before walking out, closing the door behind her.
The Tacoma charter had quite a few Old Ladies, one more of a dragon bitch than the other. It had taken her some time but she got along with most of them after a while. Getting that shit to work in less than a week was more of a problem.
-o0o-
After repeatedly saying that it wasn't a problem that the bitch was there and that he could do his job, he was finally released. He slumped down in the couch again and saw her in the bar, next to Kozik. They were talking and the two of them together at a bar counter, talking to each other, reminded him of the first time he saw her.
-o0o-
He and Kozik had finished a job in Vegas and wanted some drinks. They went to a bar without the cuts, simply to get some fucking quiet and no bitches hanging around their necks. Leaving the cut behind wasn't something they did often but it happened, when they needed to wind down. Being in Vegas mean that they'd been knee deep in prime pussy for a week so bar skanks wasn't high up on their list of interests.
They'd downed a few beers and all the time Happy had a tingling sensation in the back of his neck. When he looked around he saw a woman at a table in the corner. She briefly looked at him before turning her eyes from him and she kept looking around in the bar. He'd seen that before. Hell, he'd done that before. She looked like a predator looking for prey but he still quickly forgot about her. She'd been smart enough to rule him out so she wasn't his problem.
He was reminded about her again when she stood up and walked over to the bar. She was a bit unsteady, drunk, and for a second he wondered if he'd been wrong and just paranoid, seeing shit that wasn't there. She was skinny, black long hair, big nose and mouth. Nothing special at all and if he hadn't seen her study people earlier he wouldn't have looked twice.
She bought a beer and on her way over to the pool table she stumbled a little and giggled. Two frat boys immediately honed in on her and called her over to play a game. When she started to play Happy's sensors went up again. And it dawned on him that he hadn't been wrong at all. She lost a few games but that only made him more certain and when a big pile of money was laid up on the table, he leaned forwards and chuckled. She was good.
"What's up?" Kozik asked and turned around to see what had caught his attention.
Happy nodded towards the woman with the frat boys. "She's hustling them."
"Any good?"
"Very." It was only the fact that he by chance had seen her scanning the room earlier that had tipped him off.
When she won she grabbed the pile of money and walked towards the bar on impressively steady feet for someone who could hardly walk about an hour earlier.
"I'm gonna have a word," Koz said and got up to walk towards the bar and the woman standing in it.
Happy kept looking and could hardly believe his fucking eyes when she bumped into Koz as he walked away and he was pretty fucking sure she just lifted the horny idiots wallet. Koz didn't even seem to notice but Happy was sure. She wasn't just a hustler, she was a pickpocket as well. He chuckled when Koz sat down with a satisfied smile.
"I think I'm halfway there. She's skinny, not that pretty but... she's got something. Bet she's great lay. Wild." He looked so smug and when Happy laughed he glared at him. "You don't believe me? She wants me, I'm telling you. She just needed the bathroom then she'd coming over here."
Happy shook his head, got up and caught the girl on her way to the bathroom, and without a doubt some backdoor she knew was there. He grabbed her arm.
"Big mistake," he said as he shoved her inside the toilet. "And the only reason I'm not going to kill you is that we're not wearing our cuts."
That caught her attention and she looked terrified, "Cuts? Like in vests?"
"Like in vests," he confirmed. He held out his hand. "Hand it over."
After roaming through her bag she gave him four wallets, a lot of loose cash, a pocket watch, some wrists watches and a fucking necklace. All the time while filling his hands she kept apologizing, saying she didn't know they were bikers, that she wouldn't have tried anything if she'd known, over and over again. Rambling.
He laughed at the pile in his hands, "I don't give a shit about all this crap, I just want my friends wallet."
She looked up at him with big eyes. "Oh. Ehrm. The blond guy?" She looked down in his hands. "Do you know what it looks like?"
He took Koz wallet. "Hold your bag open." When she did he poured the rest back in it. "What's your name?"
"Miranda." She looked at him and if he hadn't known her type he might've believed her.
"What's your real name?"
She was quiet for a few seconds, looking down in her bag. "Joanna" She looked up at him. "My name is Joanna. Tell your friend I'm sorry."
"Don't be. He should've noticed."
"Are you really letting me go?"
"Sure." He shrugged. She'd kept him very amused the entire time she'd been in the bar and he didn't care if she stole some fucking wallets as long as it wasn't his or Koz'. Besides, they didn't have the cuts on. Couldn't expect the girl to be a psychic even if she'd been smart enough to wait with Koz' wallet until last. "I'll let you go if you tell me how the hell you managed to lift fucking necklace."
With a smile she moved closer, got up on her toes and when her, quite big, nose got closer he leaned down with a smile. She put her hand on his cheek and with the other she moved his hand up to her waist.
"I got really close," she mumbled and he smiled. Grabbing a hold of his necklace and took a step back.
"If I ever see you again I'll keep an eye on you," he said and took another few steps back. When he turned around to leave her he heard a laughter behind him. Turning back his eyes widened. She was holding his watch.
"Sorry. Couldn't help myself."
"Fucking hell!" He laughed and couldn't help notice that she was quite sexy when she wasn't terrified. "How the fuck did you do that?"
She handed it back to him. "You were focusing on your necklace and my hand on your cheek. No the other wrist."
He shook his head again, took his watch. "Next time, I'll strip you naked before I let you go."
"Look forward to it," he heard her yell behind him when he left her to get back into the bar.
"Where the fuck did you go?" Koz said as he sat down at the table.
Happy threw the wallet on the table. "To get your wallet back."
"What the fuck!" Koz took it and looked inside. Happy could see when it dawned on him. At first he got pissed and then he laughed. "She lifted it?"
"Yup."
"I didn't notice. Fuck, she must be good."
"Very. Took the watch from my wrist."
"Hustler and pickpocket. Now I really want to get some of her. That pussy's gotta be something."
Happy smiled and leaned back. There were a lot of reasons why he wanted to meet Joanna again. Stripping her naked was only one of them. Picking pockets was a dying art and she was good. She must've had one hell of a teacher and he wanted to know who.
