“I saw her for,” he turned to Connie, “how long was it dear?”
Connie tilted her head ever so slightly and frowned a bit. “I believe she was around for two years.”
“Yeah, two years. That’s how long I was involved with Aerona,” he admitted. Olivia’s eyebrows moved upward, and she frowned hardly able to believe what the couple was saying.
“So you knew he was um—.” Olivia sat dumbfounded.
Connie waved a hand to dismiss Olivia’s hesitation. “Of course, that’s the kind of relationship we have. My husband has what I call an insatiable sexual appetite. I tell you, ever since those damn blue pills were invented, I decided I wasn’t about to try and keep up, so we have an understanding. He can poke whoever he wants as long as he doesn’t fall in love,” she beamed proudly.
Harrison shook his head. “So anyway, I’d give her money here and there. You know—just to show my appreciation. And I’m a generous man. But about nine months ago,” he said then stopped and thought about what he was saying.
“It was seven months ago,” Connie tossed in.
“Yeah, well, seven months ago, I found out she had somehow gotten hold of my password and had started siphoning off five grand a month from my account.”
Olivia’s eyes became wide. “How long did this go on?” she asked.
“Oh, I started to suspect something about two months in when I noticed an additional debit against the account,” Connie mentioned as if losing five grand a month was only a drop in the bucket for them.
Harrison looked at his wife and shook his head again. “So anyway, Connie told me what she suspected, and a few months later I confronted Aerona, or at least tried to and she denied it, adamantly, saying I was just accusing her of being a thief because she was black,” he shrugged.
“As if,” Connie interrupted again. “Harrison has had more black lovers than we can count, huh, honey? Besides, he’s probably single handedly responsible for launching the careers of several black actresses. I was offended at her accusations,” Connie added.
“Anyway, I would’ve helped her if it was only money she needed, but I can’t trust a thief. A thief has to lie, and that’s just not a good combination as far as I was concerned. She was real good in bed, but it wasn’t worth it, so I stopped seeing her and reported the thefts to my financial planner,” Harrison tossed in easily.
“Did you press charges?”
Harrison shook his head vigorously. “Oh, nothing like that. I figure she must’ve really been in a bind to steal from someone as generous as me,” and with that, Fuller pushed a button on his blue tooth and said, “Fuller here.”
Connie started flipping through a stack of pictures Olivia hadn’t noticed before. She looked over at the stack and asked, “Are these aspiring actresses?” Olivia asked, hoping to kill time until Harrison wrapped up his conversation.
“No, these are ladies who have caught my husband’s eye. It’s obvious I need to help him screen the women he becomes involved with,” she smiled.
Olivia shook her head at the thought. She knew people in LA were special, but she wasn’t ready for this set up.
“—I’ll have to get back to you on that,” Fuller’s voice said, indicating to Olivia that she’d better seize the moment.
“Do you have an alibi for the night the woman you knew as Aerona Carter was killed?” Olivia asked.
“Yeah, we were at the Writer’s Guild Awards Show that night,” he turned to Connie. “Weren’t we?”
“Yes, that’s the night we met Tonya, you remember?” she asked him.
“Oh, yeah, I remember Tonya,” Fuller answered, the change in his voice instantly noticeably. And Olivia figured Tonya must’ve been one of the many options for his chocolate delight.
“So would you be willing to testify?” she asked.
Fuller’s eyebrow crinkled. He scratched his patch of salt and pepper hair and looked at Olivia, a bit baffled. “What in heaven’s would I testify about or for?”
“I’m working in defense of a woman who’s being accused of Aerona’s murder. We’re trying to build a case talking about the type of woman she was. And in addition to yourself, there were at least six other men she was duping for money,” Olivia explained.
“Oh, she wasn’t duping me,” Fuller quickly defended. “I would’ve willingly given her that money. Which is why her betrayal hit so hard. Connie and I believe in sharing. There’s never a need for anyone to steal from us. We’ve got more than enough, and we don’t mind sharing,” he added.
“So then you’ll testify if we need you?”
He shrugged one shoulder and said, “What the hell. Let us know where and when, and we’ll be there,” he turned to Connie again. “Right dear?”
“Sure. Have a subpoena, we will travel,” Connie announced.