Run: 2026-10-08-01M4DAA33YJBWJABQ0XRBN9425

Molly tapped the blueprint of the Pembrook house with a chewed pencil. "Third floor, east wing. The party room. Every present for the Hartley kid's seventh birthday is stacked by the piano." Bill squinted at the drawing. "How many presents are we talking?" "Forty-two. I counted from the mailbox photos. Mrs. Pembrook posted them on the neighborhood app." "Forty-two presents." Bill leaned back in the folding chair, which creaked in protest. "That's a lot of loot for a kid's party. What's in them?" "Mostly plastic dinosaurs, a few gift cards, and one box that rattles like it's full of tiny marbles or cereal." "Cereal is a crime I can get behind." Bill grinned and pulled a black ski mask from his jacket pocket, then held it up, considered it, and put it back on the table. "Too much? It's a birthday party." "It's a heist, Bill. Wear the mask." He sighed and tugged it on. "Fine. But I'm not wearing the tiny party hat they'll have us in." "Nobody's wearing a hat. We go in during the piñata. Every adult in the house will be standing in the backyard, screaming at a cardboard donkey." "Brilliant. And the security?" "A golden retriever named Biscuit. He's asleep under the dining table. I've already brought him a sausage." Bill blinked. "You bribed the dog." "I'm prepared. Unlike you." He opened a plastic bag and pulled out a stack of gift wrap, a roll of tape, and a bow the size of a dinner plate. "I brought disguises." "Those are wrapping supplies." "Exactly. If anyone catches us, we're the clown company running late with the balloon arch." Molly pinched the bridge of her nose. "Bill, we are not pretending to be clowns." "You're just jealous you didn't think of the bow." She glanced at the bow, then at the blueprint, then back at him. "Fine. Clowns. But you're doing the balloons." "Deal." He stood, straightened his mask, and grinned. "Forty-two presents, Molly. Tonight we become the best-dressed bandits in Pembrook history." "Just don't let the piñata hit you." "Nothing can hit me. I'm a professional."