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

Needs and wishes pulled him two ways. He wanted to return to where he could watch the house and listen, maybe intervene, but he also needed to meet the other deputies and officers as they arrived and work out a game plan. He felt sure that even if one had left, several people remained in the house. Even if he saw Ike or learned for sure that he was there and in danger, it would be a damn fool stunt to charge in, one man and one gun against an enemy whose number and firepower were not known. He wanted to, though, more than anything. Surely Ike was in danger, and Ike was coming to mean a great deal to him.


Ike assessed the dimensions of his temporary prison. He didn’t like the feeling of being trapped. Despite the crawling fear, he knew he needed to learn all he could about the space. It could spell the difference between life and death.


Chapter 22