Buckle up! It's story time.
It's the story that inspired the story.
— Not Joe
In early November, 2024, Bitcoin had just climbed above $70k for the first time. Almost immediately, it climbed higher, above 75k.
That Friday night, I was meeting up with some friends at a pub. They were running late, so I bellied up to the bar and ordered a beer. Darker than dark. MMMmmmm.
The guy sitting next to me introduced himself. Our brief conversation went like this:
He said, "What's up? I'm Joe."
"Hi."
"You into Bitcoin?"
"Huh?" That was a clever way to dodge the question, doncha think? Okay, not really, but it worked.
He said, "Oh, man. I'm making a killing on Bitcoin."
"Should you be telling people that?"
"Ah, you're just jealous."
I said, "Whatever," and I reached for my phone, as if to suggest dissinterest.
Moments later, a woman sat down, and he started having the exact same conversation with her. My jaw dropped. I couldn't help thinking, "This idiot's practically begging to get robbed."
I looked at the woman. She was wearing a little black dress, and she looked lovely, but also mysterious in the way a woman in a little black dress does.
I looked at her and thought, "Oh, yeah. She could rob this guy. Easily."
To be clear, I have no reason to think the woman I saw in the bar that night was a criminal. She's just somebody who sat down next to an idiot, and she left as soon as he started bragging.
I'm just saying, for me, that moment was the birth of an idea. It felt like I was sitting in the first page of a story. I thought, "Somebody should write that!" Then I laughed at myself, because I'm somebody. So, I thought, "I should write that!"
As I sat there, thinking of what the rest of the story might be, I got a text from the friends I was waiting for. Plans changed. We were meeting at a different pub, a few blocks away. I texted back to say I couldn't make it, because something came up.
I sipped my beer and thought about the woman in the little black dress. I asked myself again and again, "How would she do it?" Each time I answered my question, I thought, "Right, but how?"
Maybe she'd go home with him. She'd tell him she's into kinky stuff and say, "Get me something to tie you up with. I'll fuck your brains out." Then, once he was tied up, she'd brutally rob him.
The flaw in that idea was obvious. Sure, she could rob him, but he'd know who did it. He'd at least know what she looked like.
I thought, "Maybe she researches men in different cities, and travels there, to rob them." But it seemed too risky.
So, I changed my question to, "How could she do it without him knowing she did it?"
Again, I imagined her going home with him. Maybe she'd flip the lock on one of his windows, so she could come back another time. They'd still meet though.
When I got home, as I hung my keys on the hook where I keep them, I froze.
I remember standing there, staring at my keys on the hook.
"That's it! She needs to get his keys. But she needs to get his keys without him knowing she got his keys. He can't even know she exists. How the hell does she do that? She needs someone else for that. She needs a partner!"
That's where the story really began, but there was one more big idea that helped me write this novel.
As I said, I had the original idea for this story in November, 2024. I tried writing it, but I got nowhere.
I tried again in December. And January. And February. Same result.
Finally, in late February 2025, I asked myself, "What's the problem here?!? I think I've got a great idea. Why isn't it working?
My breakthrough came when I realized I was interested in the story of the criminal, not the crime. And I was interested in the lessons that could be learned along the way.
I kept thinking back to when I was sitting in the bar that night. I didn't care about the guy. He was an idiot who wanted to brag to anyone who'd listen.
I had no interest in his story.
I imagined the woman who'd rob him. I wanted to know her story. Who is she? How did she become somebody who'd do that? How did she figure out how to do that? Did she face any consequences?
Once I knew the story was about her, not him, I knew how to write it.
As I type this, it is now December 2025. The novel has gone through many drafts. Along the way, an entire chapter was deleted and at least seven scenes were added.
I'm very excited about this story. I hope you enjoy it.
— H. E. Tobe