Run: 2026-09-24-01M39X77NPPHHWDC01YE8FXSMJ

Molly lowered the binoculars and turned to Bill, who was eating a corn dog in the passenger seat of their van. Beyond the fence, the backyard was a war zone of streamers, balloons, and shrieking children hopped up on juice. "Okay, here's the setup. Party starts at two. Bounce house, clown, pony rides. Present table's under the oak tree, completely unguarded." Bill licked mustard off his thumb. "Guarded? It's a kid's party. What are they going to do, bite us?" "You'd be surprised. Kevin bit a mailman last week." "Who's Kevin?" "The five-year-old whose presents we're stealing. Keep up." Bill squinted at the house. "I still don't get it. What are we gonna get, a Furby and some Legos?" "Legos sell for hundreds, Bill. Hundreds. And there's a rumor the grandma got the kid a bike." "A bike. We're stealing a bike from a child." "From a child who already has three bikes. I did my research." Bill stared at the fence like it had personally offended him. "Fine. But I'm not dealing with the clown." "You don't have to deal with the clown. I'll handle the clown." "How are you going to handle a clown?" "I'm going to punch him." "That's not handling a clown, that's assault." "It's clown assault. There's no law against that." "There are definitely laws against that." Molly pulled a rolled-up poster board from under her seat and unfurled it across the dashboard: a hand-drawn map of the backyard with arrows pointing everywhere. "Here's the plan. You go in as the magician." Bill stared at her. "The what?" "Magician. You do card tricks, everyone looks at you, I grab the presents, we're out in four minutes." "I don't know any card tricks." "You know how to make a card disappear." "Because I lose them! That's not a trick, that's just me being bad at cards!" "Same thing. Nobody knows the difference." Bill rubbed his face. "What's my magician name?" "Billiam the Magnificent." "That's just my name with extra letters." "It's showmanship, Bill." "What's my escape plan if things go south?" "Same as always. Scream like a girl and run." "That's your plan for me?" "It works. You're very good at it." Bill nodded, mostly to himself, and looked out the window again. "Okay, wait. New problem. The present table has a tablecloth. How am I supposed to do magic with a tablecloth right there? I'll be tempted to pull it out from under the dishes." "Don't pull the tablecloth." "But it's right there." "Bill. Focus. Do not pull the tablecloth." He nodded slowly. "What if I pull it really fast?" "You will not pull anything." "Just once. For the kids." "Kids won't remember you as the tablecloth guy. They'll remember you as the guy who ruined Timmy's birthday." "His name's Kevin." "His name is whatever we want it to be. We're stealing his presents, we don't need to know his name." Bill crumpled the empty corn dog stick. "One more question." "Is it about the tablecloth?" "...No." "It's about the tablecloth." "How fast is 'really fast,' technically?" Molly started the van. "Get in costume. We go in ten minutes." Bill pulled a sequined cape out of the duffel behind his seat and sighed at it.