yet had a chance to speak to Alexander. The tall, dark-haired man cut an intimidating figure. He was slick, sophisticated, confident, and exuded wealth. Apparently, Constantine had had the same powerful charisma in his day, but now he was in his seventies, and walked with the help of a cane. Constantine had taken up residence in one of the alcoves with Lisa Hamilton, who was reported to be the best party planner in Beverly Hills. The older blonde woman had a laugh that often cut through the hush of concentrated chess play, occasionally drawing an irritated look from one of the players. But no one had made any effort to quiet her down. He suspected Constantine's presence was the reason for that.
Deciding to see what else he could hear, he grabbed an empty tray and made a sweep of the room, picking up discarded glasses. As he moved behind Alexander and Ryland, he caught a snippet of their conversation.
"She's going to be trouble," Ryland said.
"What's she going to find? It's been a hundred years since Natasha died," Alexander said with a careless shrug.
"She might find more than you think. Maybe you should talk to your uncle, give him a heads-up."
"I will, but I'm not worried. People have looked into Natasha's death before. Nothing ever comes of it." Alexander's gaze moved to the door.
An older woman with dark-red hair made her way into the room. Jax recognized her as Louisa Dimitrov, Constantine's wife. Eddie Bozic, the owner of Falcon Motors, was right behind her. They walked toward the alcove where Constantine was sitting with the party planner. Alexander and Ryland split apart. Alexander went to join Constantine's group while Ryland shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks and then wandered away to watch his father play chess.
Jax returned to the bar. As he went over the conversation he'd heard, he couldn't help thinking that both Ryland and Alexander seemed to know something about Natasha Petrova's death. Ryland had suggested that Alexander warn his uncle, which suggested Constantine knew something, too.
He frowned, wishing that the information he'd learned had had something to do with his case and not a murder or suicide from over three decades ago.
For the next hour, he made drinks and tried to listen in on whatever conversation came near enough to be heard. By nine, the room was starting to empty as the first round of matches ended. The second round would be played on Saturday and the final round on Sunday. Wallace and Dustin were the last pair to finish, their game ending with victory for Dustin.
As the actor celebrated his win with friends at another table, Wallace Jagger got up from his seat and walked over to the bar with a weary gait.
"Scotch and soda," he said.
"Coming right up. How did you do?" he asked, seeing strain in the old man's eyes.
"Worst night I've had in years. I couldn't concentrate. She got in my head."
"Who's that?" he asked lightly.
"That woman. She had the same brown hair, the same green eyes."
"You're talking about the woman who came to see you earlier."
"Maya. She said her name is Maya. But I wasn't really talking about her." He fell silent as Jax put his drink in front of him. "You ever loved a woman so much you lost your mind?"
"Never had it that bad. Should I count myself lucky?"
"I don’t know. They were the best moments of my life and the worst. And now I'm rambling on."
"What was her name? The woman who made you crazy?"
"Natasha. She was a beautiful butterfly. Even if you caught her, you couldn't hang on to her. It wasn't in her nature to stay. She had to be free. We worked together for five years, and she was my wife for two of those years. We were hot, but we burned out fast. I haven't thought about her in a long time. But Maya—she brought Natasha back. She brought her grandmother back." Wallace shook his head in bemusement. "Grandmother. It's difficult to think of that word describing her. In my mind, she'll always be young, energetic, and impulsive. I can't imagine how she would have aged. She wouldn’t have liked losing her youth." He took a sip of his drink. "Maybe it's best she didn't have to face any of that."
"You're talking about the film star, Natasha Petrova."
"Yes. I'm surprised you know her name."
"I actually ran into her granddaughter in the hall. She was looking at the pictures on the wall. She mentioned