Run: 2026-09-02-01M1GV9EBDQ64QSYS2V21QB3S2

Molly peered through the hedge, binoculars up, breathing through her mouth like a professional. Bill sat on a cooler beside her, unwrapping a gas station sandwich. "Target acquired," she said. "Six picnic tables. One gift table. Thirty-one presents, give or take a gift bag." "Thirty-one," Bill repeated. "We're robbing a seven-year-old." "We're redistributing wealth." "It's a Paw Patrol wrapping paper economy, Molly." "Every job has a budget. Focus. Party starts at two. Presents get stacked at two-fifteen. Cake at two-thirty. That's our window." "Your window is cake." "Everyone looks at the cake, Bill. Singing, candles, the whole ritual. Nobody watches the gift table during the happy birthday song. It's basic crowd psychology." "Whose psychology?" "Children's. Have you seen them around cake? They're animals." Bill chewed thoughtfully. "Parents?" "Two dads, a grandmother, and a woman in a visor who appears to be armed with a folding chair." "Escape route?" "The side gate. It squeaks, so we oil it at one-fifty. Then through the playground and down the slide." "You want us to exit a heist via slide." "It's the fastest way down the hill, and frankly it's a clean getaway. Nobody chases anyone down a slide. It's undignified." "Guards?" "One dog. Chihuahua. Name tag says Cupcake." "Cupcake." Bill nodded slowly. "So the plan is: oil the gate, wait for cake, grab thirty-one presents, slide to freedom." "Radio check." Molly pressed her earpiece. "Codenames. I'm Eagle, you're Sparrow." "Why are you Eagle?" "Because I'm the one with the plan. You can be Pelican." "Pelicans are the ones with the big dumb mouths full of other people's fish." "Exactly." Bill crushed his sandwich wrapper and stood. "There's just one problem with the whole operation." "Which is?" "I got a call this morning. The birthday mom needed a last-minute entertainer. Guess who's making balloon animals at two o'clock." Molly lowered the binoculars. "You're the clown?" "Close. Magician. I've got a cape and everything." "You took an inside job without telling me?" "I'm telling you now. This is me telling you. I keep the crowd distracted, you handle the presents, we meet at the slide." Molly stared at him, and a slow smile spread across her face. "Bill, that's the most beautiful thing you've ever said." "There's a second problem." "Of course there is." "The birthday kid is your nephew." The binoculars trembled. "What?" "Your sister's RSVP. It's Tommy's party. You're on the evite, Molly. Listed right under 'Auntie.'" A long silence settled over the hedge. "So," Bill said, "do we abort, or do we just give everything back at the end and call it a rehearsal?" Molly raised the binoculars again. "Oil the gate," she said. "And Bill?" "Yeah?" "When this is over, we're buying the kid something nice." "He's getting a slide exit either way."