Run: 2026-09-02-01M1GS526VYDACC8SB4A3KF6B7

The van sat across the street from the community center, engine off, windows fogged. Molly unfolded a hand-drawn map on the dashboard. "Okay. Here's the layout," she said. "Party's in the multipurpose room. Presents go on a folding table near the cake." Bill squinted at the map. "That's a stick figure of a dinosaur." "The dinosaur is load-bearing. It marks the bouncy castle." "Why does the bouncy castle matter?" "Because it's the alarm system. Kid jumps out, sees a stranger near the present table, screams. We have maybe four seconds before the whole building knows." "Four seconds." Bill rubbed his face. "In Barcelona we had eleven minutes, a zip line, and a man dressed as a priest." "Yeah, well, Barcelona didn't pay either, did it? This job's three hundred dollars of sealed toys. Kids' parties have no security, no cameras, and no witnesses who can testify. They can't even describe us right. We'll be 'a big giant' and 'the meanest princess.'" "I don't want to be the meanest princess." "Then don't make eye contact with the birthday girl. She assigns roles." Bill peered through the windshield. "Who's the man in the polka dots?" "The clown. Chico. He's ex-army, I checked." "You checked the clown?" "I always check the clown. The clown is always the wild card." "Can we not work with a clown?" "He's on our payroll. Fifty bucks and a balloon animal of his choosing." He sighed. "What about the parents?" "Twenty-six adults, all here." She tapped a photo. "They cluster by the coffee urn and talk about mortgages. The mothers are the danger. A mother can sense an unattended adult the way a shark senses blood. We walk in carrying a gift, we look like parents, we become furniture." "Carrying a gift. We're buying a gift to steal gifts." "It's a Trojan pony." "That's not the expression." "It is today." Bill studied the map again. "The table's next to the cake. I want it noted that I'm against whatever's happening with that cake." "It's a piñata, Bill." "It's a horse made of tissue paper with a candy nucleus. It's an ambush. You know some kid's going to swing, miss, and get me in the knee." "Then stand behind me. I'm wearing shin guards." "Of course you are." Molly checked her watch. "Doors open in ten. We hit the table during the singing. Everyone's watching the birthday kid, nobody's watching us. We stack the presents in the duffel, we walk out like tired dads." "Tired dads," Bill repeated. "That's the cover. That's the whole plan." "The best covers are boring. Now put on the lanyard." He held it up. "It says 'Uncle Greg.'" "You're Uncle Greg today. Try to look like you have nieces." Bill put the lanyard on and stared out at the bouncy castle rising in the wind like a fat orange beast. "I used to steal diamonds." "And now you're stealing a dollhouse. Growth, Bill. It's called growth." "If a kid cries, I'm out." "If a kid cries, we're both out. That's the one rule."