An Agent's Inbox #7

Dear Agent,

Assistant Curator, Claire Raffen, is anxious to meet her idol, rock-star artist, Sinjin Reid. She’s desperate to pick up his masterpiece to hang in her exhibit, Victorious Steam. If she doesn't acquire the sculpture, she can kiss her job at the Lafferty Museum good-bye. But when Claire arrives at Sinjin’s estate, tucked in the wooded shores of Lake Michigan, there is no sculpture.

Sinjin Reid hid his metal sculpture, Coal or Steam, after his greedy ex-wife desired it, more than him. He holes up in his studio with his battered ego, until Claire interrupts his brooding and tries to steal the piece of art. After he catches her, Sinjin bribes her. With Claire, he’ll be able to get rid of the bloody thing and make sure it doesn’t get near his ex or any museum.

They abscond with the exhibit and move it to Sinjin’s gallery. Their sketchy alliance deepens. Claire and Sinjin rediscover trust and find love. But before the debut opening, a Steampunk send-off for Coal or Steam, the ploy goes awry. A museum toady makes off with the sculpture. And Claire is kidnapped…at knifepoint.

Sincerely,
T.Q.


ARTY SMARTY

Claire fiddled with the knobs in the museum’s old VW bus. No air conditioning. Instead, she found an eight-track tape player and a cigarette lighter. Neither were a help on this unexpected Indian summer day.

Since she drove out of the university parking lot, Milwaukee’s sticky heat clung to her like a second skin. She tugged the ill-chosen black turtleneck from around her neck. “The sculpture’s worth it. After the exhibit, I won’t have to play Lawrence Chambers’ indentured art servant anymore.”

She swerved onto the Lake Bluff exit, unused bungee cords and carabiner hooks scraped across the van’s cavernous belly. Heading east on County N toward her destination, the voice on her phone’s GPS announced ten miles to Reid's residence on the shores of Lake Michigan.

The prospect of meeting the rock star of modern art, Sinjin Reid, reduced Claire to a giddy groupie. He was a mixed-media artist, not a pop idol. But his wall sculpture, Coal or Steam, was off the charts.

Her phone rang with the Funeral March. She batted her silver chandelier earring out of the way with her headset and slipped it on.

“Hello, Lawrence.”

“Ms. Raffen, have you retrieved Mr. Reid’s Steampunk, ah, sculpture. I mean the donation, yet?”

Claire heard him snort his phlegm back up into his sinus cavities. She grimaced. “I’m almost at his studio to pick it up. Victorious Steam will open on Thursday night as scheduled. There won’t be any delays.”

“If you’re unable to procure that mass of metal for your new-age dog and pony show, I’ll have to take over the exhibit.”