Run: 2026-07-01-01KWEA4D28NFPCFW0PPHM42G0H

The rain hammered against the window of the storage unit that Bill insisted on calling "the office," and Molly was starting to wonder why she'd agreed to any of this. "So let me get this straight," she said, arms crossed. "We're robbing a seven-year-old's birthday party." "Turning eight," Bill said, holding up a finger like this mattered. "And we're not robbing the kid. We're robbing the presents. There's a legal distinction." "There is no legal distinction, Bill. There's just a moral one, and it's bad." "Molly. Molly. Think about it. Forty kids, minimum forty presents. You know what rich Riverside parents buy their kids these days? Gaming consoles. Tablets. That kid's getting a drone, I guarantee it." "You don't know that." "I do know that. I did recon." "You did recon on a children's birthday party." "I stood outside a Toys R Us for two hours, yes, that counts as recon." Molly rubbed her temples. "And how exactly are two grown adults supposed to walk into a birthday party unnoticed?" Bill grinned, and that grin had gotten them into trouble more times than she could count. "That's the beautiful part. We don't sneak in. We get invited." "Nobody invited us, Bill." "Not yet." He pulled out a folded piece of paper and slapped it on the table between them. It was a flyer. Bounce house rental. Party entertainment. "I called the number on this. Told them our clown canceled. Boom. We're the entertainment." "You're going to be a clown." "We're going to be clowns. Plural. It's a package deal, Molly, one clown looks suspicious, two clowns is a business." "I am not wearing a clown costume." "You're wearing a clown costume." "Bill." "The suits have pockets, Molly. Big ones. Big enough for, say, a Nintendo Switch. Or three." She stared at him for a long moment, and hated that the math was starting to make sense in her head. "And the parents? You think they're just going to let two clowns wander around unsupervised near a present table?" "They're going to be thrilled. Because I already told them we do balloon animals and a magic act." "You don't know magic." "I know one trick." "What trick?" "The disappearing trick." He spread his hands wide, grinning like an idiot. "Presents go in, presents don't come out." Molly groaned and put her face in her hands, but she was already reaching for the costume bag in the corner, and Bill knew he'd won the second she didn't argue back. "Fine," she said. "But if we get caught, I'm telling them the whole thing was your idea." "It was my idea." "I know. That's why I'm telling them." "Fair." Bill tossed her a red rubber nose. "Showtime's at three. Try not to look like you hate children." "I don't hate children. I hate this plan." "Same thing, really." He put on his own nose and checked his reflection in the dusty mirror leaning against the wall. "Let's go steal a birthday."