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

Ike knew something about bad dreams. He’d had his share, mostly about the worst experiences he’d endured—his arrest and time in prison. So what bedeviled Perry? He realized suddenly that he really knew very little personal stuff about the deputy. Had he been in the military and seen some rough shit go down? Maybe had to shoot a criminal? What horrors might be playing out in his mind right now?


For a couple more breaths, Ike hesitated. No, he couldn’t let the other man suffer. Better to wake up and get out of whatever trauma ravaged his sleep. He crossed the room in a few quick steps and bent over Perry’s struggling body.


“Hey, bud, you’re okay. Wake up. It’s just a bad dream.”


Chapter 16