Run: 2026-09-24-01M39WTK1WWYGMDFF4ANGA1VAA

The van rattled outside 14 Maple Crescent. Inside, the muffled thump of a bouncy castle fan hummed like a generator. Molly adjusted her binoculars. "Okay, Bill. Look alive. The birthday boy is turning six. This is going to be the biggest haul we've ever seen." Bill lowered a sandwich. "It's a bouncy castle, Molly. We can't bypass a bouncy castle." "It's a perimeter, Bill. A trampoline perimeter. It's designed to exhaust intruders." "It's designed to exhaust six-year-olds. I'm forty-two. I have a bad knee." "Then we go over it. I brought the trampoline ladder." "That's just a ladder." "It's a ladder of trampolines." "We didn't even bring a second trampoline." Molly sighed and tossed him a walkie-talkie. "Focus. What about the piñata?" "The piñata?" "It's a decoy. It's hanging right over the loot table. It's a piñata-based trap." "It's a paper dinosaur full of Smarties." "It's a diversionary tactic. If we hit it, we alert the birthday boy." "If we hit it, we get Smarties." "Are you going to take this seriously?" "I am taking this very seriously. I'm just saying, if we happen to get Smarties, we shouldn't leave them behind. That's just wasteful." Molly pulled a clipboard from under her seat. She tapped a diagram of a house drawn in crayon. "We need to blend in. I got us jobs as the entertainment." "What entertainment?" "Balloon animals. You're the balloon artist." "I can't make balloon animals." "You just twist a long balloon until it looks like a dog. How hard can it be?" "I made a balloon once. It popped and the kid cried for an hour." "That's a distraction, Bill. Distraction is good." "It was a giraffe, Molly. It was supposed to be a giraffe. It looked like a nightmare with a neck." "Fine. I'll do the balloons. You handle the extraction." "Extraction of what? The presents are wrapped. We don't know what's inside." "It's the mystery of it, Bill. The thrill. We're stealing the potential of joy." "We're stealing a Lego set and a Paw Patrol lunchbox." "Could be a diamond ring. Kids get diamond rings all the time." "No, they don't." "Fine. We take the cake, too." "The cake is a lie, Molly." "Don't quote video games at me. The cake is chocolate fudge. I checked the invite." Bill stared out the window. A toddler ran past the van, screaming with pure, unadulterated joy. Bill shuddered. "You hear that? That's the sound of an alarm system that never shuts up." "We gag the alarm system. That's why we have the clown noses." "We're wearing clown noses?" "It's a disguise. Everyone trusts a clown. It's classic social engineering." "Social engineering? We're going to a party with balloons and cake. It's not Fort Knox." "Everything is Fort Knox if you're stupid enough, Bill. Now, put on the nose. We go in on my signal." "And what is the signal?" Molly honked a bicycle horn twice. "That's it? A bicycle horn?" "It's discreet. It says, 'I am a clown, and I am ready to steal your presents.'" Bill put his head in his hands. "I miss robbing banks." "Banks have lasers. This has a bouncy castle. Now move out."