Kinsella’s domain fit right in. From a distance it looked like something that had been badly scorched in a fire. Black-painted facade, smoke-tinted windows, black sign with neon letters that would blaze white after dark but looked burned-out in the daylight. No graffiti. None of the neighborhood taggers would dare deface those black walls. Nick Kinsella had a big, bad rep out here; even the drug-dealing gangs left him and his people alone.
I parked in front and locked the car out of habit. It was safe enough here, this close to the Blacklight; in the next block it would’ve been fair game for anybody who thought it contained something tradeable for a rock of crack or a jug of cheap wine. Inside, the place might’ve been any downscale neighborhood bar populated by the usual array of daytime drinkers. A couple of the men and one of the women gave me bleary-eyed once-overs, decided I wasn’t anybody worth knowing, hustling, or hassling, and turned their attention back to the focal point of their lives. The bartender, a barrel-shaped guy with a head like a redwood burl and a surly manner, was the same one who’d been on duty the last time I was here. If he recognized me when I bellied up, he gave no indication of it. All he said was, “Yeah?”
“Nick Kinsella. He’s expecting me.”
“Name?”
I told him. He said, “Just a minute,” and used the phone on the backbar. When he came back he said, “Okay. First door past the ladies’ crapper.”
“I know where it is.”
I went and knocked on the door and walked in. Mostly barren office that reeked of cigar smoke and had two men in it, Kinsella and one of his enforcers, a lopsided, balding guy with the build of a wrestler whose name I didn’t know. Kinsella sat bulging behind a cherrywood desk. He’d grown a third chin since I’d last seen him, added another junk-food inch or two to his waistline.
“Long time, Nick.”
“Long time,” he agreed. “How’s it hangin’?”
“Short, like always.”
He thought that was funny. The enforcer didn’t crack a smile.
Kinsella said, “So what brings you around this time? Don’t tell me you got money troubles?”
“Not your kind.”
“So?”
“Just some information. Maybe I can give you some in return.”
“Yeah? Like what?”
“About one of your competitors.”
One bushy eyebrow lifted. “Who’d that be?”
“QCL, Incorporated.”
“Never heard of ’em.”
“Carl Lassiter.”
“Never heard of him.”
Good. Trade material. It’s always easier to deal with the slimeball element when you know something they don’t. I said, “All right if I sit down?”
He waved a fat hand at the only other chair. “Sure, sure, sit.” And I when I was on the chair, “So what about this guy Lassiter?”
“He works for QCL. Quick Cash Loans. It’s a Vegas outfit.”
“Vegas?”
“With branch reps in half a dozen other cities, including S.F. High-interest loans to gamblers and prostitution on the side.”
“The hell you say.”
“So this is all news to you.”
“Yeah, news. Tell me more about this outfit.”
I told him all I knew. He soaked it up; you could almost see the wheels turning in his head.
“Sounds like a smart operation,” he said. “Low pressure, no overhead. Big profits, huh?”
“Probably.”
“But they only work the gambling trade. That don’t cut much into my profits, not the way they work it. No real competition.”
“But you’re glad to know about them.”
“Oh, yeah. Always glad to know about the competition.”
“And maybe if you put out the word, you could find out a little more.”
“Maybe. That what you’re after, more info on this QCL?”
“One of the reasons I’m here, yeah.”
“What’s the other one?”
“Different case. One of your customers.”
“Yeah? Who?”
“Brian Youngblood.”
“Names,” Kinsella said. “I got a lot of customers, I’m no good with names.”
“Black guy in his twenties, works in computers, lives on Duncan Street. Five-figure borrow.”
His face showed me nothing. He leaned back in his chair, clasped his sausage fingers behind his neck. “Maybe I know him, maybe I don’t. How come you’re so interested?”
“He’s in over his head. We’re trying to find out how deep.”
“Working for him?”
“No.”
“Who, then?”
“Confidential, Nick.”
“Better not be if it’s got something to do with me.”