"Yes, this is my son," Wallace put in. "Ryland Jagger."
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Maya Ashton."
"How do you know my father?"
"It's not important," Wallace interrupted. "Why don't you get me a drink, Ryland? We're just about done here."
Ryland hesitated, then said, "Sure, Dad. The usual?"
"Of course."
As Ryland moved away, Wallace said, "You need to leave, Miss Ashton."
"I will go, but I want to give you something." She pulled an envelope out of her purse and pushed it across the table. "My grandmother wrote about you, and I think when you read these pages, you'll understand why I need your help to find out what happened to her. Her story deserves a better ending, don't you think?"
Pain filled his gaze. "Whether you know the truth or not, Natasha's ending won't change. She'll still be dead."
"But maybe whoever killed her will finally be charged."
He shook his head. "It's possible it was just a drug overdose. As much as I wanted to believe otherwise, there's never been more than speculation to suggest another reason. Hollywood loves a good rumor. Most of them aren't true. You should drop this now. It won't do you any good. There's no winning path here. If Natasha OD'd, it's just a sad story. If she was murdered, anyone who tries to unveil her killer could be in danger. Are you willing to take that risk?"
Goose bumps ran down her arms at his alarming words. "I'll be careful."
He gave her an odd smile. "Natasha used to say that very same thing to me. She was impulsive and impetuous, and she always wanted more than she had. I told her many times that she was playing with fire. She always responded in exactly the same way, 'I'll be careful'. And then she was dead."
She swallowed a growing knot in her throat. Maybe she was going down a dangerous road. But she wasn't just doing it for herself; she was also doing it for her grandfather and for Natasha.
"You better go," Wallace said.
She followed his gaze, seeing the woman she'd run into in the hallway earlier talking to Ryland. They were both now looking at her. She quickly got to her feet, but she couldn't escape before the woman came over to the table.
"Excuse me, Wallace," the woman said, giving her a daggered look, before turning to Wallace. "Is this woman your guest? You do know that you have to sign her in."
"She's not staying," Wallace replied. "She had a question for me that needed to be answered. She wasn't aware that only members are allowed down here, Sylvia. My apologies."
"I'm sorry," Maya cut in. "I didn't realize the area was off-limits. Thank you, Mr. Jagger," she said, glancing back at him. "I hope you'll think about what I said."
"I doubt I'll think about anything else."
As she walked away, her gaze locked with the blond bartender once more. Jax wasn't smiling. In fact, the look on his face seemed far too serious, but she didn't have time to ponder that as the dark-haired woman was dogging her steps. While Ryland had remained behind with his father, the woman was right on her heels as she entered the hallway.
"One minute," the woman said. "What's your name?"
She turned around. "Maya Ashton. And you are…?"
"Sylvia Graham. I'm the club manager. Jax told me you were looking for the bathroom before. Was he lying, or were you?"
She wasn't quite sure how to answer that. Jax had tried to save her and she didn't want to throw him under the bus. "I was looking for the restroom. I drank a lot of coffee before I came here. I didn't realize that the room where Mr. Jagger plays chess was only for members. He didn't mention that."
Sylvia didn't look convinced. "Well, don't make that mistake again."
"I won't. Can I ask you a question?" Since she had this woman's attention, she might as well try to use it to her advantage. If she was the manager here, she could be helpful.
"Of course," Sylvia said, looking taken aback.
"My grandmother was Natasha Petrova. I don’t know if you've ever heard of her…" Her voice trailed away as she could see by the look in Sylvia's eyes that she had definitely heard of Natasha. "She wrote fondly about this club in her journals. It was her home away from home. She said that when she missed Moscow, she came here, and she didn't feel so alone."