CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY SEVEN – WORK SMART, NOT HARD

"She's a goddam movie villain, is what she is," Skylar groused one night as the team reconvened over stale coffee and pepperoni pizza. "Stampeding over anyone and everything in her wake, all in service of...what? Just endless insatiable greed?" Kayla shrugged, a humorless set to her jaw. "I think it's more than that. This is about total domination for Valeria - using money as the most comprehensive means of control. With the sheer scope of resources she seems to have been diverting, she could basically hold the company hostage financially." "Among other hostage situations, it would appear." Lance's face was drawn and haggard, a showering of premature grays peppering his temples. He tossed a file onto the conference room table with a look of disgust. "We're getting troubling reports of employees whose family members have been receiving threats...kids being stalked, strange cars idling outside homes at night, that sort of thing." Kayla felt her blood run cold as she scanned the docu