When a cop and a newly released convict cross paths, few cons can expect anything positive. Struggling toward a home he knows no longer exists, Ike Hernandez meets a cop who seems different. He isn’t sure he can believe the kindness, but he wants to learn to trust again and regain his lost self-respect.<br><br>Perry Parker became a law enforcement officer to help people. He learned there wasn’t much he could do, but now and then he found someone he could help. Would the lost man with the little dog that he picked up one stormy night be one of them?<br><br>Pursuing tales about a new drug dealer, Perry starts to doubt the man he’s befriended, but something inside him still feels Ike is a decent person. When the real dealers take advantage of the convict’s past, Perry, his unofficial canine partner, and the little stray Ike adopted save the day. Can a cop, a con, and two dogs make an unorthodox family?

A Cop and a Con

Returning to Riata, Perry drove by the shelter operated jointly by the Catholic Church and a group of concerned citizens. Anabelle Vega was on duty at the front desk. He’d never really been interested in women, but if he had been, he would have dated Anabelle. She wasn’t the prettiest woman around, but an inner sweetness radiated from her smile. Kids loved her.


“Oh, no, I see you’ve got Mr. Delgado’s grandkids again. That means he’s drunk or off getting drunk, and his daughter is probably stoned out of her mind or took off with some guy.”


“So, you know them. I don’t think I’ve brought them in before, and I wasn’t sure who they were. The boy ran out to intercept me and said he couldn’t wake his mother up and they were hungry. She wasn’t in good shape, maybe an overdose. The EMTs took her in. And yes, the kids said Poppi was gone.”


Chapter 12