A matter of trust.

I turned the Escort out of the hospital car park and headed out onto the street, busy with early evening traffic. Bodie sat beside me, his fingers, every now and again, gently touching the bandage covering his chest that concealed the knife wound to his shoulder. I think the painkillers must be wearing off.

He glanced across at me occasionally as we drove in silence, each alone with our thoughts. He knows I'm still in shock. Barry Martin. Who could have believed that a well respected founder member of C.I.5 could have turned bad and put his boss and supposed close friend in hospital and my partner out of action for several weeks. It didn't seem possible and it's been all I could think about for the past few days.

"I could do with a cuppa." Bodie said, as we neared the cafe we both frequented when in the area. "How about we stop at Rosie's?"

"You don't want to go straight home?"

"Nah. Later. Not unless you do?"

"No, cup of tea's fine."

I managed to find a space to park outside and Bodie lumbered ungainly out of the car. At the sound of the opening cafe door Rosie, plump and round, her back to us turned and her face lit up with obvious delight at the sight of Bodie.

"Oh, darlin'." she exclaimed, catching sight of his blood stained shirt as we approached the counter. "What's happened to you?"

" Rosie, sweetheart, you wouldn't believe the day I've had." Bodie draped himself over the counter giving her his best puppy dog eyes.

She touched his open shirt, peering in at the bandaging. "Bad is it?"

Before Bodie could tell her he'd been on life support in intensive care I thought I'd put her straight. "Just a minor flesh wound." I told her. " Nothing one of your cups of tea wouldn't put right, Rosie, love."

"Two teas? Right you are. You sit yourselves down and I'll bring them over."

Bodie followed me reluctantly to a table at the back of the room. "A minor flesh wound?" he said, frowning. "I was half way to getting a free sympathy doughnut there."

"Have you no shame?"

"Not when there's half a chance of a delicious free bakery product, no. Anyway, it was a bit more than a flesh wound."

"If you say so."

Bodie scowled good naturedly, rummaging in his pocket for the small plastic bottle of painkillers and swept his eyes around the small cheerful cafe. He let them rest on Jenny as she approached with a tray.

"Rosie says you've been hurt." she said with concern, as she set two mugs of hot tea in front of us. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I will be if I can get the cap of this bottle." Bodie spied a large custard slice on a plate and his eyes lit up. "Is that for me?"

"I thought you could find a good home for it." Jenny grinned, as she took the bottle from him, opened it and handed him two tablets.

"You know me so well."

Bodie bit into the cake with a big grin on his face as the custard squirted out of the sides.

We were silent for a while, well, as silent as Bodie can be when he's making quick work of food. My thoughts drifted uncomfortably back to Barry Martin until I was aware that Bodie was looking at me in the same concerned way he had been in the car.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he said suddenly.

I stared at him in surprise. Though his eyes are soft and confiding I rather fancy that if I said I did he'd want to run a mile. Even as he'd asked he'd dropped his head, glanced furtively around and lowered his voice. Deep and meaningful wasn't exactly Bodie's forte! Not that there was anything of much significance to talk about anymore. Barry Martin turned bad, end of story. Except that his treachery continues to haunt my thoughts.

I regarded Bodie thoughtfully for a moment while the question hung unanswered in the air before I replied with one of my own.

"Do you think every man has his price, that everyone can be bought?"

"Yeah, of course." He came back at me as quick as a flash.

"No, you're wrong, mate," I told him firmly. "I don't, don't have a price I mean."

"Yeah, you do." Bodie licked the last of the custard from his lips and stirred his tea. "You just don't know it. Look, say you were heavily in debt and you were being leaned on to pay up pronto. You happened to know that Cowley had top secret information in his filing cabinet and you knew of a buyer that would pay handsomely for it. For a few minutes work all your debts would be cleared. Remember, you are utterly desperate with no other way out. What do you do?"

I shook my head. "No, I'd never sell out C.I.5 and I wouldn't do that to Cowley either. Never. That's just not me. I have standards, principles, morals. Do you realise what damage could be done to national security, to Britain, if I did?"

Bodie sighed and sat back in his chair. "When you're up to your eyes in debt you don't care about any of that. The trouble with you is you're not thinking like a desperate man."

"I don't care how in debt I was I just wouldn't do that." I told him, adamantly.

"Well, what would you do then to clear this massive debt?"

"I'd touch you for a loan, wouldn't I?" I grinned at him.

"Oh, no, no no!" Bodie exclaimed, laughing. "I haven't got a bean to my name! You're on your own, sunshine!"

"Oh, thanks very much, friend." I replied, sipping the hot tea. "Anyway, it's irrelevant as I'd never get myself into that kind of trouble. I live within my means, cut my cloth accordingly."

"Yeah, you would wouldn't you?" Bodie groaned and let his attention wander back to the waitresses.

But Barry Martin hadn't owed money. He'd been greedy, willing to work for Culbertson in order to provide himself with a better standard of living in his advancing years and that was, in my eyes, unforgivable. Poor Cowley. He'd counted Martin amongst his closest friends since they were in the army together. He thought he could trust him. I thought I could trust him. He was my mentor when I had first joined C.I.5 and I can't get over the betrayal.

"Whotcha thinking about?" Bodie's eyes met mine as he drained the last of his drink.

"Cowley."

"Yeah, it's been rough on him but he'll bounce back."

"Will he?"

"Course he will. It's Cowley, isn't it. Tough as old boots." Bodie suppressed a yawn and he looked tired.

"Come on, let's get you home." I said, rising from the table.

"Oh, if only you were female and beautiful with an offer like that!"

"Shut up!" I pushed him playfully towards the door and then headed for the counter.

"How much do I owe you, Rosie?"

"On the house, love, and look after him, will you?" she jerked her thumb in the direction of Bodie standing at the door.

"I'll do my best." I replied, as a nagging thought came to the front of my mind again.

As Bodie opened the door to leave I caught hold of his arm. "Hang on a minute, how do you know that Cowley has top secret information in his filing cabinet?"

The darkening eyes that could barely bring themselves to look at me turned away sharply.

"Just guessing." he mumbled awkwardly, quickly making his escape out onto the street. His whole demeanour chilled my blood, stopping me in my tracks for several seconds. In an instant he had changed from amiable to almost menacing.

"No, you know he has." I caught up with him outside the cafe, suddenly frightened and fearful. I had never seen him like this before. I didn't want to think the unthinkable, not after today, not after any day.

"Been in debt, haven't I."

"No. No, you'd never do that, not to Cowley, not to me. No." I tried to search his face as he strode towards the car.

"Wouldn't I? I don't think anyone really knows anyone ." Bodie stared at me over the roof of the car.

"You're wrong, again." I shook my head vehemently. " I know you and you're not capable of that."

"Aren't I? There you go again, not putting yourself in the shoes of a desperate man."

"So you're telling me that you broke into Cowley's office, stole information and sold it to pay off debts?"

"No, you're saying that. I'm not admitting to anything." Bodie opened the car door and then a wide smile broke across his face and the familiar warm twinkle returned to his eyes as he leaned over the roof. "The trouble with you is you are so easy to wind up! You should see your face! And I'll overlook the fact you were actually beginning to believe I was guilty. I'll put that down to me being a good actor; perhaps I should have gone into that line of work." He opened the door and dropped down into the car leaving me staring after him completely nonplussed.

As I drove Bodie home there was an odd silence in the car. He had closed his eyes and rested his head against the seat. He had left me with too many unvoiced questions that I was afraid to ask for fear he may reveal a truth I didn't want to hear. Had he just been joking, as he had said? It seemed inconceivable that he could have stooped so low, could have threatened to break the bond of trust that Cowley had with him, let alone me. Yet he had been so convincing; Lord knows, with a bit of thoughtful planning it wouldn't take much to gain access to Cowley's office. I had seen the menace in his eyes, had tasted the moment however brief, of belief on my part of his guilt and hating myself for it. And why had he brought the matter up today of all days? An opportune moment to unburden his guilt? And what was I meant to do with this information?

But no, I told myself pushing away my doubt, he was my partner and had been for over three years now. True, he was an often dark and complex man to understand, his moods changing in a heartbeat at times but I trusted him completely. He was just having me on, trying to cheer me up in typical Bodie fashion. Wasn't he?

I drew the car to a halt outside Bodie's flat and he turned and opened the car door. As if there had been no break in our conversation he said "Besides, Cowley keeps his really classified top secret stuff in his office safe, just in case you're interested. Know what I mean?" He tapped his finger quickly against the side of his nose a couple of times and then, with a quick twinkle to his eyes he left the car and disappeared into the gloom of the approaching night. Once again I felt the undeniable whispers of doubt begin to surface.