Run: 2026-04-24-01KQ027HVKTEV4HSTG53RQ05WA

Molly adjusted her black turtleneck in the rearview mirror and took a deep breath. Bill sat in the passenger seat, studying the party invitation like it was a blueprint to a diamond vault. "Okay, so the target is 44 Maple Drive," Bill said, pointing at the crumpled paper. "Birthday party. Two o'clock sharp." "Two o'clock," Molly repeated. "PeakPRESENT hours." "Exactly. Maximum gift density." Bill pulled out a notebook with tabs and colored sticky notes. "I've categorized the intel. The host mom posted photos from last year's party. We're talking easy-bake ovens, remote-control cars, the whole nine yards." "How many kids are we dealing with?" "Twenty-four confirmed invitees. Plus parents. That's forty, forty-five adults milling around eating sheet cake and making small talk about property taxes." Molly nodded slowly. "So we blend in." "Exactly. You're 'Aunt Donna's friend from yoga.' I'm the uncle. Nobody ever questions the uncle. They just assume you know someone and feel too awkward to ask." "What about the dogs? You said something about dogs last night." Bill shifted uncomfortably. "German Shepherd. Name is Captain. Apparently he knows 'stay' and 'leave it.' Very well-trained." "That's good for us." "That is terrible for us, Molly. The dog has discipline. Discipline is our nemesis." He flipped a page. "However, I've prepared for this. I have beef jerky. Eleven bags of beef jerky. You throw the jerky, Captain becomes a Labrador for thirty seconds." Molly stared at him. "You're using beef jerky to defeat a trained security dog." "You say that like it's stupid." "It is stupid." "Has it ever worked before?" "This is literally the first time we've ever done anything like this." "Right. So I have a perfect record. Moving on." Bill pointed at a hand-drawn diagram of a suburban backyard. "The presents go in the spare bedroom. Mom locks the door at the start of the party so nobody opens them early. Key is on her belt with a little carabiner." "She's going to be wearing it the whole time?" "That's the plan." "And you want to steal keys off a woman surrounded by forty witnesses." "Off a woman who will be eight glasses of white wine deep by three-thirty and singing along to a Frozen playlist. It's not heisting, Molly. It's patience." Molly pinched the bridge of her nose. "We need a distraction." "I brought a magician." "You brought a magician." "Guy named Terrence. He does balloon animals and a pretty decent card trick. Twenty bucks and a six-pack." Bill folded the diagram neatly. "He goes in first, gets all the attention. You slip to the bedroom. I manage Captain with jerky reinforcements. By the time the cake comes out, we're gone." Molly looked at him for a long moment. "This is insane." "It's airtight." "It's completely insane and I want a bigger cut." "Fine. Fifty-five forty-five." "Sixty-forty." Bill sighed and opened the car door. "Sixty-forty. But I pick the getaway music."