Free Heavenly Lover by Sharon Hamilton Page B

could still hear.” Beau chuckled, bringing on a rheumy wheeze. He coughed, clearing his throat. “You haven’t answered my phone calls. Okay, I get it. You don’t want to talk to me about your shit—sorry—your paintings.”
    “I’ll be down next day or two. Gotta borrow a truck.”
    “That’s why I’m calling.”
    Daniel heard a door close as Beau whispered into the phone, his voice muffled as if he were buried in a cave.
    “Two IRS agents are here and they are asking questions about your stuff, you know, like when was the last time one sold, if any were waiting for pickup, that sort of thing.”
    “IRS? I don’t get it. I’ve not gotten any notices, and my taxes are current.”
    “They’re talking like you had some big windfall, some large sale you didn’t report and they’re looking to take ‘em.”
    “The paintings?”
    “No, my toilet seats. Of course I’m talking about the fucking paintings!” Beau coughed into the phone. “Be glad it was me here today. Audray would have told them to take ‘em all.”
    Sweat rolled down Daniel’s back, soaking his shirt. He threw off his jacket, swearing under his breath, then undid the top button and pulled his shirttails out of his slacks. The last several months, he’d been plagued with banking overdrafts, declines on his credit cards, and now this.
    What’s going on?
    “But fuck me, Daniel, trouble with the I Fucking R S is not something I need right now. Catch my drift?” Beau said.
    Daniel understood Beau’s aversion to any form of law enforcement. “Yes, I understand.”
    “And, I’m fucking bursting at the seams here. She’s got this new photographer she wants to display, and I got no fuckin room.”
    “Photographer?”
    “He’s a doctor, really. Not much of a photographer, just my opinion. But I like having nude pictures of Audray adorn my walls, if you know what I mean.”
    Daniel did. He could imagine she liked it too.
    “I haven’t got a clue, Beau. They taking the paintings now?” Over the cell phone, Daniel heard a creaking door and then the sound of it closing.
    “Can’t tell yet, but they’re writing down shit in little notebooks, you know, like cops.”
    “I’ll come down there and talk to them. Don’t worry. It must be some kind of mistake. They’ve got me mixed up with someone else.”
    “You know, Daniel, I’m not so sure you should come unless you bring an attorney. These guys look like major bruisers. They don’t smile. They grumble.”
    “I have nothing to hide.”
    “Are you sure, cause…”
    “Yes, I’m sure. I’ll give Josh a call, maybe he can come on down with me. I need his Hummer anyway.”
    Beau sighed. “I gotta ask, why do you pay Josh anything? The guy is worthless.”
    “He found you, didn’t he?”
    “He found Audray. Josh doesn’t fuck men.”
    That made Daniel smile. “He’s a good friend, and he cares about the artists he represents.”
    “Then how come they all wind up dead? No, Daniel, the only one he cares about is himself.” Beau mumbled curses. “I coulda told you not to get involved with her, though. What were you thinking?”
    “I wasn’t.”
    “Your lower brain sort of thing. Been there myself a time or two,” Beau continued.
    How many times?
    The crash Daniel heard sounded like something in the gallery had shattered to the floor. Beau swore. “These guys are gorillas. That cost me about five Gs.”
    Daniel’s finances were precarious, and his pride was buried under debt. He had enough to replace the paint he’d squandered last night, but not much else. That would mean not making his house payment this month, which would mean month number three. A foreclosure notice would be coming any day then. He had equity too. He’d be flushing that down the toilet if he didn’t come up with some cash in a hurry.
    He heard a banging sound on Beau’s end of the phone, along with a muffled yet booming voice that said, “Sir, you want to step out of the closet,