A Penny Found (Detective Joe Denali Series Book 1)

The lives of Albuquerque homicide detective Joe Denali and accused murderer Penny Murphy come together in A PENNY FOUND, a novel that includes bank fraud, a Mexican mafia connection and one woman€s desire to break free of a life of abuse.
When Joe€s fellow detective undergoes critical heart surgery, he comes face-to-face with his own mortality and failures. His assignment to find the killer of a man tied to a bed in his own basement is hampered by his friend€s illness and his own personal problems.
Sold by her father at age fifteen, Penny Murphy spends ten years imprisoned by fifty-year old banker Gabe Russo. Never completely broken by her imprisonment, when the opportunity arises, Penny leaves a drunken and injured Russo tied to a bed in his own basement and escapes with his car, his money and his gun.
Mercy Smith and Billy Clause come into Penny€s life and appear to be her answer to freedom. She goes to work in Clause€s bar, but when Clause learns of Russo€s death, he takes Penny€s car from her. Once again she is trapped in a different type of prison.