Whores with Prayers

China Doll was arrested on a Tuesday. She had the murder weapon in her hand. Witnesses saw her get into a physical fight with the victim the night before. Open and shut case, right?

Not according to the accused herself.

“He attacked me!” She said it like a mantra. But no one believed her. That was where Vince came in.

“Why did he attack you?” he asked. The prisoner shifted in her seat.

“My pimp was a monster,” she said. China Doll lifted her chin. Vince could see faint bruises on her neck. Vince remembered the police reports. Bruises, black eyes, broken ribs, broken legs, broken arms, cuts, and more injuries. Witnesses could confirm that the victim was violent with his girls. China Doll’s eyes looked tired.

“Tell me what happened,” Vince said. The sex worker snorted.

“You won’t believe me,” she grumbled.

“Try me,” he said. China Doll rolled her eyes.

“Dennis didn’t care about me. I was just a tool to make money.”

“What happened that night?”

“I wanted to go home. He works us all through the night. He won’t let us have any breaks. I’ve seen girls end up in the hospital because of him.”

“Exhaustion?”

“And even worse. Much worse.” China Doll shivered. The black polish on her nails looked chipped.

“How much worse?” Vince asked. She shook her head.

“Right,” Vince said. “So what?”

“I was trying to leave. I felt like I was going to be sick. I had been on my feet all day. My head was hurting. Plus, I missed my period.” China Doll pressed her hair from her eyes.

“Are you…?”

“Yes.”

“How far?”

“Four months.” Maybe this was starting to make sense. But first, Vince had to get to the bottom of this.

“Who attacked first?” Vince asked.

“He did,” she said. “I was about to walk out the door when he grabbed me by the arm. I tried to push Dennis off. He wanted me for one more client. He wanted me to service Douglas.” China Doll shuddered.

“Douglas was a piece of work. All of us tried to avoid him. The last girl who tried to service him ended up nearly overdosing. She was in the hospital for weeks.” She put her hand to her stomach.

“I couldn’t risk that for the baby. Dennis didn’t want to listen. Douglas always paid good money. But it still wasn’t worth it.”

“And the pimp didn’t take no for an answer?” Vince asked. China Doll shook her head.

“What did you do?” he asked.

“I tried to pull away. He wouldn’t let go. I just wanted to go home. It got worse when he tried to drag me away.”

“That’s when you slapped him?”

“Yes.”

Vince remembered the rest of the case. It turned into a smackdown-drag out in five minutes. He took most of the blows. She still had scratches and bruises on her face and arms.

“What was the breaking point?” Vince asked. China Doll sighed and lowered her shoulders.

“What he said,” she said. The detective raised his eyebrow.

“What did he say?”

“I can’t give you any more chances.” She trembled as she clenched her teeth.

“He said that with a knife in his hand. He was going to kill me!”

“So you shot him in the face?”

“Yes!” The knife was found under her bed. No fingerprints on the handle. Dennis did have on gloves. He followed her to her apartment or she lured him there. There were no phone records. It didn’t look like she deleted anything. Her lawyer was the one to call Vince. China Doll looked desperate.

“Can’t you help me?” she pleaded.

“Fine,” Vince said. “I will help you.” The prostitute bowed her head.

“Thank you,” she said. He didn’t take the case out of pity. Something didn’t sit right with him. He still had one question on his mind.

“Who’s the father?” Vince asked. China Doll’s eyes shifted away from him. She said something in a quiet voice. But not quiet enough for Vince not to catch on. When he heard her answer, his jaw dropped.

“No way…” the detective said. This just complicated things for this case. She didn’t seem to be lying either. Vince would need to look over his notes back at his office. He might have stumbled across a bigger rabbit hole again.