After leaving the bar, it had only taken at most an hour for Ivar to start blowing up Keijo’s phone with text messages.

So, when are we going to meet again?

Do you have plans?

We don’t have to just drink at a bar. We can do other things!

Either Ivar was really gullible, or he was very lonely. Or both. Both were a good sign for Keijo’s success though. Nothing that he had said at that bar was necessarily false. Ivar was a really good-looking man. His hard jawline and pretty orange eyes had caught Keijo’s eyes specifically, along with that flustered attitude that he seemed to so frequently experience.

If Ivar wasn’t a hardened criminal that he was supposed to catch, he probably would’ve asked him on a real date. He was just Keijo’s type.

Keijo waited until the next morning before texting him back. He decided to respond while on a morning walk to the park.  

I would like to hang out.

This weekend perhaps? We could go somewhere quiet.

A date?

Sorry- that was too forward…

No no, I’m okay with calling it a date.

:)) Yay! I haven’t been on a date for ages!

What should I wear?

Where should we go?

Gifts? Do we do gifts?

WHERE ARE YOU

Sorry…

It’s okay. I’ll text you back after work.

Then we can organise.

:) Okay

Wow. Ivar was so excitable… A little pushy… but Keijo understood why. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t rather excited for this ‘date’, but he knew he had a job to do…

Keijo sat alone on a park bench. He had to plot his next move. Ultimately, he wanted to get into his bedroom to investigate, but he knew just how dangerous that would be. If he was caught by either of the brothers or their bodyguards, he was a dead man. But if he got in and out without being caught… He could learn such valuable things.

He leaned back on the bench and looked up at the tree above him. The leaves were rich and green, but soon they would be yellowing and turning into pretty autumn colours. Hmm… That’s what Ivar’s eyes reminded him of. Autumn. Though his bouncy attitude was more reminiscent of late spring and early summer…

‘Stop!’ Keijo sat upright again. Was he really thinking about the man he was supposed to be taking down like… this?? ‘He’s a criminal, Keijo. You can’t have him. Do your job.’

Keijo sighed and re-focussed his mind onto the task at hand. He needed to get Ivar away from his house, go look at his room and take photos, then get out with no suspicion… he was a good problem solver, so the solution came to his mind easily.

He would tell Ivar that he got off work early, and that he was so excited to be seeing him again that he didn’t want to wait. He would get Ivar to suggest the meeting place, then he would tell him to go there, go inspect his room, tell him he went to the wrong place, and then go to the meeting place. If Ivar was as… gullible as he seemed, he would believe every word of it.

He waited until 3pm, and texted Ivar.

I got off work early.

Couldn’t stop being excited about the date

Got anywhere in mind we could go today?

Today?? Yes!

Humm… There’s an abandoned multi-level parking lot

We could meet there?

Sounds perfect. Send the location.

I’ll be there in an hour.

Wear something casual :)

Yessir!!

The plan was in motion. Keijo was back at home, so he put some nice clothes on and grabbed his keys, making his way to the house where Ivar and his brother lived. As he got closer to the house, he noticed the hostility of the surrounding neighbourhood. The streets were littered with people who were passed out from alcohol or drug misuse, there was evidence of fights from the blood and scattered teeth on the ground, cigarette butts littered the gutters of the road. Hostile eyes burned into Keijo’s head. He did not belong there.

Keijo spoke to no one, he didn’t want to be noticed or remembered, or there was a very real risk of being reported to Eji. He only looked up when he was close to the house. He saw no one guarding the exterior of the house, which could’ve either been a concerning sign or a relaxing one, but Keijo decided to stay neutral in his thoughts. He had looked up the orientation of the house on real estate websites on the way there, so he knew there were four options of where Ivar’s bedroom could be.

Only one of the bedrooms was on the lower floor, so Keijo carefully made his way to a window and peeked in. His eyes widened as he saw his colleague sitting on one of the couches, guarded by two bodyguards. Shit… I hope he’s okay…

He left the window and searched for a way to get up to the second floor. On one of the balconies, he could see corsets drying out in the afternoon sun. That would be Eji’s room. That left only two rooms to check, and only one had a clear way to climb up.

Despite Keijo’s body type, he was surprisingly good at climbing. He made it up to the balcony of the second room without a sound and peeped into the window. The room was horribly messy, cluttered, and unkept. Ivar’s room for sure.

Keijo looked around to see if he had been seen by everyone, and quietly opened the window, stepping into the room.