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

He’d always hated closed dark spaces. Although he’d learned to control the worst of his phobia, he felt clammy sweat break out on his body and had to fight the urge to slam against the walls and door in hopes of finding some way to break free. However, it could be worse. He was not bound or trussed up. Steadying himself with a few deep slow breaths, he pushed up from the floor where Alesandro’s shove had sent him sprawling. He found he could stand and move a step in either direction. A long arm’s length to the rear, he felt a wall.


Perry almost stayed longer than he should have, considering he had another split shift to work. He drove a little faster than normal when he headed back to Riata. Julio had given him a lot to think about. Really, the only question now was how much to pursue while he was on duty and what might be better done privately, out of uniform and in his own vehicle.


Chapter 20