Justice Pie + Thief

[lildeezy]

Hi,

I looked around, but couldn't find an answer to this question.

Player A is a thief.
Player B is in combat.
Player A uses thief ability by discarding a card.
Player B runs away from combat.
Player B uses Justice Pie.

Is Player A's thief card in "play" after using the thief ability thus allowing Justice Pie affect Player A?

Justice Pie: "Play this card when you are cursed or when you Run Away. The curser, or everyone who played a card against you in combat, must discard two cards!"

Thief: "Backstabbing: You may discard a card to backstab another player (-2 in combat). You may do this only once per victim per combat, but if two players are fighting a monster together, you may backstab each of them."