Run: 2026-10-08-01M4D9YHAECNGSEA1W07B7CXRC

Molly flattened herself against the wall of the community center and peered through the window. Balloons bobbed in the glow of string lights. Somewhere inside, a child shrieked with joy. "Tell me again why we're robbing a birthday party," Bill whispered, adjusting the enormous fake mustache glued above his lip. "Because the Pemberton twins are turning seven, and their parents hired a magician who charges by the present." Molly tapped a folded clipboard against her palm. "Do you know how many gifts are in there?" "Eleven hundred?" "Forty-three. But one of them is a pony." Bill's eyes lit up. "A real pony?" "A plastic pony. It's wrapped in gold foil. Focus, Bill." He squinted at the back door. "And the plan is we just stroll in with our bags?" "The plan is we walk in dressed as the clown company's replacement staff. Nobody questions a clown. Clowns are invisible. It's a scientific fact." "I don't think that's a scientific fact." "It is now." She pulled a pair of oversized red shoes from her duffel and shoved them at him. "Put these on. Left foot first, they're too big for you otherwise." Bill sat on an upturned bucket and wrestled with the shoes. "My feet are sweating. This is humiliating." "Your feet are not the problem. The problem is that you're carrying a rubber chicken like it's a weapon." "It's a very persuasive chicken." Molly snatched it from him and tucked it into her jacket. "Okay. Step one, we go in through the kitchen. Step two, we find the gift table. Step three, we fill these laundry bags and walk out the front while the kids are doing the piñata." "What about the parents?" "The parents are in the corner sipping wine and pretending they didn't spend four hundred dollars on a bouncy castle." Bill stood, nearly toppling over in the shoes. "Molly, I think I'm going to be very good at this." "Don't get cocky. Last time you tried to disguise yourself as a Victorian ghost." "That was a commitment to the bit." A burst of laughter erupted from inside. Molly grinned, hoisted her bag, and pushed open the kitchen door. "Let's go steal some presents." "Wait," Bill hissed. "Which one of us is the pony?"