A Most Placid Death — James Paddock

In the beginning it was easy and quite lucrative. When wealthy couples, childless and sterile, want to start a family by way of a quiet and private adoption and are willing to spend what it takes, why not help them out? Put together a team and have one of them dress like she belongs, then walk out of the hospital with a newborn tucked in her bag. It worked perfectly in Tampa and then Orlando, followed by Miami a few months later. An easy hundred grand per child split among the four team members. The system worked perfectly, until the youngest member of the team overheard a young man talk about his girlfriend who was on the edge of giving birth, living in a shack in central Florida. This will be easier than a hospital, he declared to the leader of the team. An easy baby snatch! It can't get much simpler than this. When DuPont Investigations enter the picture—that is Parker and his so totally awesome sidekick, Randi Leigh, as well as the babysitter bodyguard, Stormy Stine—it turns out to be NOT so simple.