The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson Read Free Book Online Page B

at
Millennium
. In the middle of chaos. But the offer came like a bolt from the blue, and I can’t say no. I mean, it’s the chance of a lifetime. I got the offer justbefore Dag and Mia were shot, and there’s been such turmoil here that I buried it. And now I have the world’s worst guilty conscience.”
    “I understand. But now you’re afraid of telling Micke.”
    “It’s an utter disaster. I haven’t told anybody. I thought I wouldn’t be starting at
SMP
until after the summer, and that there would still be time to tell everyone. But now they want me to start ASAP.”
    She fell silent and stared at Annika. She looked on the verge of tears.
    “This is, in point of fact, my last week at
Millennium
. Next week I’ll be on a trip, and then . . . I need about two weeks off to recharge my batteries. I start at
SMP
on the first of May.”
    “Well, what would have happened if you’d been run over by a bus? Then they would have been without an editor in chief with only a moment’s notice.”
    Erika looked up. “But I haven’t been run over by a bus. I’ve been deliberately keeping quiet about my decision.”
    “I can see this is a difficult situation, but I have a feeling that Micke and Christer Malm and the others will be able to work things out. I think you ought to tell them right away.”
    “All right, but your damned brother is in Göteborg today. He’s asleep and has turned off his mobile.”
    “I know. There aren’t many people who are as stubborn as Mikael about not being available when you need him. But Erika, this isn’t about you and Micke. I know that you’ve worked together for twenty years or so and you’ve had your ups and downs, but you have to think about Christer and the others on the staff too.”
    “I’ve been keeping it under wraps all this time. Mikael’s going to—”
    “Micke’s going to go through the roof, of course he is. But if he can’t handle the fact that you screwed up one time in twenty years, then he isn’t worth the time you’ve put in for him.”
    Berger sighed.
    “Pull yourself together,” Giannini told her. “Call Christer in, and the rest of the staff. Right now.”
    Malm sat motionless for a few seconds. Berger had gathered her colleagues into
Millennium
’s small conference room with only a few minutes’ notice, just as he was about to leave early. He glanced at Cortez and Karim. They were as astonished as he was. Malin Eriksson, the managing editor, had not known anything either, nor had Monika Nilsson, the reporter, or the advertisingmanager, Magnusson. Blomkvist was the only one absent from the meeting. He was in Göteborg being his usual Blomkvist self.
    Good God. Mikael doesn’t know anything about it either
, thought Malm.
How on earth is he going to react?
    Then he realized that Berger had stopped talking, and it was as silent as the grave in the conference room. He shook his head, stood up, and spontaneously gave Berger a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
    “Congrats, Ricky,” he said. “Editor in chief of
SMP
. That’s not a bad step up from this sorry little rag.”
    Cortez came to life and began to clap. Berger held up her hands.
    “Stop,” she said. “I don’t deserve any applause today.” She looked around at her colleagues in the cramped editorial office. “Listen, I’m terribly sorry that it had to be this way. I wanted to tell you sooner, but the news sort of got drowned out by all the turmoil surrounding Dag and Mia. Mikael and Malin have been working like demons, and it just didn’t ever seem like the right time or place. And that’s how we’ve arrived at this point today.”
    Eriksson realized with terrible clarity how understaffed the paper was, and how empty it was going to seem without Berger. No matter what happened, or whatever problem arose, Berger had been a boss she could always rely on. No wonder the biggest daily had recruited her. But what was going to happen now? Erika had always been a crucial part