Page 114 of The Deadly Shallows

Caleb got to his feet, and Austin did the same.

“Mr. Gower?” Caleb asked.

“Yes,” the man strode forward, his shoulders taut. “Braxton, please,” he said, extending a hand. “Sorry to keep you both waiting. One meeting after another today.”

“Everything okay?” Austin asked.

Gower smiled at her. Really smiled at her. Caleb silently dared Gower to play the “you’re too beautiful to be a private eye” card with Austin. She would level him flat.

But the man just cleared his throat and said, “The foam business is a massive juggling act, and there’s a delicate balance between maintaining enough supply of the necessary chemicals to make the foam and fulfilling orders, but not being too heavy on inventory or overhead.”

“That’s actually what we’re here to ask you about,” Caleb said. “We would like to speak with you about TCEP, specifically.”

Gower blanched, then smoothed his tie down to the V in his coat. “Let’s speak in my office, shall we?” He gestured to the white doors. “Right this way.”

“Thanks,” Caleb said as Braxton held the door open for him, then in turn for Austin.

“We’d also love a tour of your facility,” Austin said, coming up beside Braxton in the white hall with gray doors every ten feet or so.

Gower smiled. “You would?”

“Yes.” Austin smiled back. “We’ve been to two other foam companies today and received tours, but I have a feeling yours will be far different.”

“We like to think so.” Braxton shifted directions, heading down a small hall with an emergency exit door at the end. “Might as well start the tour now.”

Austin looked around as they moved through an immaculate section of the plant, the metal scaffolding and ramps a similar bright yellow as that of the lobby. “Your plant is highly impressive.”

“That’s quite a compliment.” Gower nodded. “Thank you. I’m guessing you visited FoamTech?”

“Mmm-hmm,” Austin said, “And Taylor & Greene.”

“They produce decent foam, but we’ve worked hard to upgrade our standards and innovation. Here,” he said, reaching for yellow hard hats, handing one to Austin and then Caleb.

Austin slipped hers on, and Caleb tried not to smile at how adorable she looked.

Mind on case. Mind on case. “How long have you been CEO?” Caleb asked.

“About three years,” Braxton said.

So only a year before TCEP was banned. If he’d been fully stocked up, the legal disposal of it according to EPA guidelines could have bankrupted the company—one he’d only recently taken over.

“How’d you come to Huntington Foam, Mr. Gower?” Caleb asked.

“Braxton, please. It’s a family business, over sixty years old. I took it over when my father retired.”

“That’s a lot of pressure,” Austin said.

Braxton nodded. “It can be, but I thrive under pressure. I bet this guy does too.” He angled his head back at Caleb.

“Miss Kelly does as well,” Caleb said. As passionate as she was about her work and various aspects of life, when it came to pressure, instead of getting overwhelmed, it sparked her to life.

“Is that so?” Braxton said, appraising her as they worked their way into the next section of the plant—passing a mail station mounted along the far wall between office doors.

People walked by them, excusing themselves as they shuffled by in the narrow space. Phones rang up and down the halls, and that unique scent from the other two plants filled the air here as well.

After winding through section after section of the plant, Braxton invited them back to his office to talk in less noisy surroundings.

“Here we are,” he said, gesturing them inside. Windows ran the length of the back wall, displaying trees and the parking lot.