“Nothing about what that means or what a more common name for such a substance could be?”
“Nothing.”
Faith rolled her eyes.“God spare us from nerds.”
Jessica chuckled.“That… is the most immature thing I’ve ever heard you say.”
“Stick around, kid.It gets worse.”
She led Jessica past the tarp-covered chainlink fence into the construction site.The workers stared at them with the typical glare reserved for idiots who couldn’t understand simple words like OFF-LIMITS or EMPLOYEES ONLY.
Those glares changed to looks of confusion, then mild fear as they saw the FBI printed across Faith’s and Jessica’s vests.More than a few of those looks changed to lust as their eyes fell on Jessica.A few looked at Faith the same way, and she couldn’t deny it felt good to be noticed like that after so many reminders of her advancing age lately.
Of course, most of the looks were reserved for Turk.He just had that quality that stole the hearts of everyone who saw him.
She was here for business, though, not to stroke her ego or admire her dog.She walked to the nearest construction worker, a burly man with about as much hair on his arms as on his head who leaned on a jackhammer and watched them with a mixture of wariness and curiosity.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey yourself.”
“I have a question.”
“Shoot.”
“Can you tell me what a reaction product of a polyether with toluene diisocyanate is?”
The man blinked.“Come again?”
“A reaction product of a polyether with toluene diisocyanate.”
The man chuckled.“Ma’am, I use the stuff, but I don’t read the labels.If that’s some kind of epoxy or chemical, I wouldn’t be able to tell you.”
“It’s an epoxy,” Faith replied.“I’m trying to figure out a tool a murderer might have used to stiffen a body.”
The man blinked, no longer laughing.“Christ.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty sick stuff,” Faith said.“Any idea who I could talk to who might have an answer for me?”
The man took a deep breath and blew it out through his nose.Then he bellowed, “Hey, Jon!”
Faith flinched at the sudden roar.A few of the other workers noticed and chuckled.She smiled ruefully and lifted a hand in acknowledgement.Bet you’d flinch if you had to do my job too.
An equally big man shuffled over to them.Jon was more muscular than burly, though, and had a chiseled jaw and a perfectly manicured beard that suggested he was very popular with the ladies.The blush climbing Jessica’s neck suggested the same thing.
He smiled at her but turned his attention to Faith.“How can I help you?’
“I’m looking for something called a reaction product of a polyether with toluene diisocyanate.”
“HydroFill.”
“What?”
“HydroFill.That’s what it’s called.Well, that’s the brand I use.It’s a type of expanding epoxy that’s used for cast molds.”
“Cast molds.”
“Yeah.Say you have a small object, and you’re trying to make a larger version of that object.You make it out of the epoxy, usually using a smaller mold, then expose it to water.It expands, significantly depending on the particular balance of chemicals, and becomes larger.It’s useful for sculpting.”
