The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest Page 0,255

the hell do you know that?"

"I know that you were married, that you have two children in England who don't want to see you, and that you've taken the big leap since your divorce and now have primarily homosexual relationships. You're probably ashamed of that and avoid the gay clubs, and you avoid being seen in town with any of your male friends. You regularly cross the border into Spain to meet men."

MacMillan was shaken to the core. And he was suddenly terrified. He had no idea how she had come by all this information, but she knew enough to destroy him.

"And I'm only going to say this one time. I don't give a shit who you have sex with. It's none of my business. I want to know who you are, but I will never use what I know. I won't threaten you or blackmail you."

MacMillan was no fool. He was perfectly aware, of course, that her knowledge of all that information about him constituted a threat. She was in control. For a moment he had considered picking her up and throwing her over the edge of the terrace, but he restrained himself. He had never in his life been so scared.

"What do you want?" he managed to say.

"I want to have a partnership with you. You will bring to a close all the other business you're working on and will work exclusively for me. You will make more money from my company than you could ever dream of making any other way."

She explained what she required him to do, and how she wanted the arrangements to be made.

"I want to be invisible," she said. "And I want you to take care of my affairs. Everything has to be legitimate. Whatever money I make on my own will not have any connection to our business together."

"I understand."

"You have one week to phase out your other clients and put a stop to all your little schemes."

He also realized that he had been given an offer that would never come round again. He thought about it for sixty seconds and then accepted. He had only one question.

"How do you know that I won't swindle you?"

"Don't even think about it. You'd regret it for the rest of your miserable life."

He had no reason to cook the books. Salander had made him an offer that had the potential of such a silver lining that it would have been idiotic to risk it for bits of change on the side. As long as he was relatively discreet and did not get involved in any financial chicanery, his future would be assured.

Accordingly he had no thought of swindling Ms Salander.

So he went straight, or as straight as a burned-out lawyer could go who was administering an astronomical sum of stolen money.

Salander was simply not interested in the management of her finances. MacMillan's job was to invest her money and see to it that there were funds to cover the credit cards she used. She told him how she wanted her finances to be handled. His job was to make sure it was done.

A large part of the money had been invested in gilt-edged funds that would provide her with economic independence for the rest of her life, even if she chose to live it recklessly and dissolutely. It was from these funds that her credit card bills were paid.

The rest of the money he could play with and invest as he saw fit, provided that he did not invest in anything that might cause problems with the police in any way. She forbade him to engage in stupid petty crimes and cheap con games which - if he was unlucky - might prompt investigations which in turn could put her under scrutiny.

All that remained was to agree on how much he would make on the transactions.

"I'll pay you £500,000 as a retainer. With that you can pay off all your debts and have a good deal left over. After that you'll earn money for yourself. You will start a company with the two of us as partners. You get 20 per cent of all the profits generated. I want you to be rich enough that you won't be tempted to try it on, but not so rich that you won't make an effort."

He had started his new job on February 1 the year before. By the end of March he had paid off all his debts and stabilized his personal finances.