Solved! But only because the artist in the same shop that initially ran this job persevered. This was a small fill-in order for a swim event.
My problem was that this art was done in layers. The eps file I got (three different versions) would not show me layer 2.
At any rate, this other shop which could not do this little overnight fill in order, had an artist who even had Corel 12, but was still having trouble giving me a usable file.
He finally sent me an SVG, as a layer flattened single piece which imported fine but had somehow changed to CYMK
Fortunately, with the magic of Find and Replace, I was able to change it to spot colors and voila! It is now on the press.
btw, this is a twenty hour rush, charged accordingly, so at least the frustration is being compensated.
Once again, thanks everyone who tried to help.
