A/N: I failed to post a chapter last week because I had to study for the final exam of my summer course. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Feedback is welcomed and much appreciated as always. I ask you once more. Who did kill Pete Fairmont? The answer should be revealed in the next chapter or two. Are you not excited?
Would I Lie To You?
All of the guests turned around to face her the moment she had stepped onto the premises. She looked absolutely flawless tonight. Even she would give herself that. Jenny truly had potential in becoming a world renowned fashion designer.
"Have I told you that you look absolutely beautiful tonight?" Chuck murmured into her ear as he led her towards Nate and Serena.
"Only about a million times Bass," she whispered back before she greeted their friends.
"My queen," Serena started, a giggle assaulting the hollows of her throat. "May I inquire as to who designed that fabulous dress for you?"
Blair rolled her eyes, but giggled along with the blond.
"If you must know Barbie," the brunette drawled. "The fork, Jenny Humphrey, did."
Nate smiled in amusement as the girls continued to remain in character. Chuck merely shrugged and turned his attention towards his best friend.
"Nathaniel, a word please," he said, glancing purposefully towards him.
Serena immediately stopped chatting with Blair upon hearing his request and grabbed onto Nate's arm as he attempted to follow the brunette into the crowd. Her lips formed an irresistible pout in protest.
"Where are you two going?" Serena wondered, unwilling to loosen her hold on her boyfriend.
"Chuck and I have some business to take care of is all," he assured her.
Serena bit her lip in uncertainty, but allowed him to disappear off into the crowd alongside Chuck. She then turned back towards Blair, who cocked her head over to one of the secluded booths in the corner of the room. Serena nodded her head eagerly in agreement at her suggestion and the girls made their way quickly over to the table, seating themselves on the plush, leather seats.
"You and Chuck seem to be getting serious B," Serena mentioned casually as she took a sip of her drink.
"I suppose you could say that," Blair answered, her mouth turning up slightly at the corners at the very idea. "What about you and Nate? You two seem to have gotten so close as well in such a short period of time."
Serena remained silent and nodded at her numbly, a familiar nervousness slowly overtaking her eyes. This most certainly did not go unnoticed by the brunette.
"Serena," she started. "Are you alright?"
Again, the blond averted her gaze from her best friend, swirling the contents of her glass around and around in her right hand.
"There's something you're not telling me S, but I can tell that you want to," Blair urged, reaching across the table and placing a hand over hers. "Just tell me. I won't judge you. I mean, I'm not exactly a saint. After all, I did cheat on Dan."
At the mention of Dan, Serena flicked her head up to look at the brunette briefly before hanging her head once more.
"This has to do with Dan, doesn't it?" Blair inquired after another lengthy silence.
Serena nodded and exposed, hesitation in her voice, "That night when you were in the hospital, Dan and I kissed. It was a total accident and for the record, I felt nothing – surprisingly."
Blair crinkled her nose in confusion and then asked, "Then what's the problem S? I'm not angry with you if that's what you're worried about. I'm with Chuck now."
"Oh no," Serena told her quickly. "I know that. I didn't think you'd be mad or anything if I told you. I just feel really guilty because I haven't told Nate about the incident."
"Ah," Blair sounded, finally understanding where her concerns lay. "Well, you felt nothing and it was an accident, so I don't see why not. If it's really eating you that you've been keeping it a secret, just tell him. He'll probably just shrug it off S. Nate's many things, but he's not irrational."
Serena pursed her lips in thought at her best friend's words before her face finally broke into a wide smile.
"Thanks B," she said gratefully. "You're right. There isn't really any reason why I shouldn't tell him."
"Exactly," Blair agreed, giving her a reassuring nod.
"I'll tell him later," Serena informed her. "Speaking of which, what business do Chuck and Nate have to take care of exactly B? You probably know."
"Oh," Blair answered. "I don't know actually. It has to do with Pete's murder though I'm sure."
Serena raised an eyebrow and challenged the brunette.
"Come on B," Serena urged. "I know you know as much as Chuck does about the case."
"No really S," Blair insisted, careful to maintain her facade. "I have no idea what business those two need to take care of. I'm sure it's nothing that we should be concerned about. Why does it matter anyway?"
It was Blair's turn to grill the blond and once again, Serena averted her gaze from the brunette.
"It doesn't," she stuttered. "I was just wondering so that I could gauge how long it might be before they come back to find us is all. I really want to come clean to Nate about what happened between me and Dan that night as soon as possible."
"Right," Blair muttered, unable to believe her words.
She knew her well enough to know that Serena was flat out lying to her face. She was really making it hard for Blair to continue believing in her innocence. Why was she so interested in what Chuck and Nate were taking care of at the moment? The flicker of discomfort that had danced across her eyes at the mention of Pete's murder again had been unmistakable. Something was definitely up and it was time for Blair to press her for information – best friend or not.
"S," Blair started, leaning closer towards the blond. "I need to ask you something and I want you to be honest with me."
"Ok," Serena agreed, uncertainty etched in her delicate features.
"Hey Blair, can I talk to you for a minute?" a voice interrupted them then to which Blair groaned loudly in frustration and Serena let out an undetected, relieved sigh.
Both girls turned to look up at the perpetrator and savior respectively to find Dan hovering above them. Blair stifled a giggle upon noticing his bacon costume only to burst into friendly laughter when she witnessed Vanessa dressed as eggs a mere meter away.
"Yeah, sure," Blair answered after she had managed to control her mirth. "I'll be right back Serena. Don't go anywhere."
Blair followed closely behind him as he guided her away from Serena.
"Is something wrong Dan?" she wondered as she took notice of the tense expression on his face.
"You're about to question Serena, aren't you?" he countered, waiting for her response.
"What makes you think that?" Blair inquired, her defensive mechanisms kicking in immediately.
"Even from across the room I could see that look on your face," he answered.
The two continued to stare at one another before Blair finally said, "I am and if you're about to convince me otherwise, don't bother. This case is personal now."
Dan motioned for her to further explain that final statement, but Blair shook her head.
"Long story Dan," she told him.
He opened his mouth, prepared to ask her to tell him the story anyway, but ultimately decided against it. It was her business – not his.
"Honestly, I don't care if you question her Blair," he assured her. "I want to find Pete's murderer as much as you do. I don't want Vanessa to go through her whole life knowing that her brother's murderer is still out there somewhere, you know?"
"Oh," Blair voiced in understanding. "Well, then what did you want to talk to me about?"
"I have something to tell you that might help you with the case," he confessed, surveying his surroundings to make sure that no one was listening in on their conversation.
Blair did the same and turned back to face Dan moments later, giving him an assuring nod to proceed.
"The bottom line is that Vanessa and I witnessed Nate handing Serena a yellow tape at this cafe the other day," he revealed.
"And?" Blair prodded him on, slightly puzzled as to how this piece of information would help her in solving Pete's murder.
"Nate and Chuck paid a visit to Vanessa and Bart earlier in the day," Dan explained, clarifying the relevance of what they had witnessed to the case. "Chuck was questioning them while Nate searched the house. Chuck let Vanessa go once Bart had admitted to having asked her to fake being his alibi for that night. Vanessa was on her way out to meet me, but she left her purse behind. She went upstairs to grab it. As she passed by Pete's room, she witnessed Nate pocketing that exact tape."
"Wow," Blair commented as she recovered from her shock. "Very interesting. What was the tape of?"
"Neither of us knows," Dan told her truthfully. "We would have told Chuck instead, but we decided that it would probably be best if we didn't make a big deal out of this just yet. I mean, just in case the tape is actually irrelevant to the case and all, you know?"
Blair nodded and said gratefully, "Well, thanks for letting me know Dan. I'll look into it."
"I know what you're thinking Blair," Dan stated in response to her grim expression. "You're thinking that Pete was blackmailing Serena with that tape and that whatever that tape was of, it was enough to kill him for."
"Yes," Blair confessed. "I just don't see why Serena would kill him for it though. His condition to giving her back the tape was that she sleep with him once. Why would she opt to kill him instead? I mean, I know Pete is disgusting and I wouldn't exactly have been thrilled at the prospect of sleeping with him either, but why commit murder?"
Dan merely shrugged at her questions and offered, "Maybe she knew that Pete would probably go back on his word once she did. Let's be real here. Once wouldn't have been enough for Pete."
"We'll assume for now that that's why she did it," Blair stated. "Killing him still wouldn't have helped her get the tape back anyway though."
"Yes," Dan agreed. "But killing him at least eliminated the risk of him leaking that tape out to the general public. With him dead, she could take her time in obtaining that tape – respectively of course."
"Serena started to date Nate almost right after Pete was murdered," Blair noted. "Maybe her ultimate goal was to manipulate him into helping her get that tape back discreetly. Nate is completely smitten with her. He would do anything to protect her regardless of the consequences."
Dan nodded his head in agreement as Blair let out a dejected sigh.
"And yet," she insisted. "As convincing as our theory is, I still don't believe that Serena would be capable of murder."
"Me either," Dan murmured under his breath.
"Well, thanks again Dan," Blair said, bidding him goodbye. "The truth always comes out eventually."
He smiled at her and responded, "No problem Blair. What are friends for?"
She returned his smile before he swiveled around and disappeared off into the rowdy crowd. Then, the brunette headed back towards the booth only to stop in her tracks when the wheels began to turn inside her head once more. Assuming that Serena was indeed the murderer, she must have also been the one to poison her and dish out those threats. The second time around, she had handed the evidence willingly over to Nate. In his quest to help Serena, Blair would bet that Nate had never even analyzed the evidence she had given him in the lab and had Nate not also been the one to investigate the restaurant after she had been poisoned? He had told Chuck that he had found nothing, but again, he could have simply lied to hide the truth. Blair would have to be careful about who she trusted from now on regardless of whether her theory was right or wrong. She slid back into the booth then, prepared to question the blond, only to find that her best friend was missing.
Chuck leaned back into the wall of the closet in utter disbelief. Pete had committed stock fraud and now Bart was trying to cover up for his mistake. He had hired Phillip Trishaw to scare certain stubborn board members into selling him their shares. He had been with Phillip that night, which was why Bart Fairmont had been forced to ask his daughter to be his fake alibi and then later insisted that he had been alone that night. Revealing his true alibi would certainly not have done him any favors. That Chuck understood, but if Bart Fairmont did not kill his own son, then who did? There was almost no one left to suspect!
"Pleasure doing business with you Mr. Fairmont," Phillip assured him as he sauntered out of the room.
Bart gave him a curt nod, put his check book back into his jacket pocket, and departed from the room as well. Chuck made sure to wait a few moments before sneaking out of the closet and returning to meet up with Nate.
"What did you find out man?" Nate asked curiously the moment he spotted the brunette.
Chuck shook his head and answered, "He has an alibi."
He then proceeded to tell the blond of the operation that Bart had worked so hard to keep off of their radar.
"Wow," Nate commented, stunned by his findings. "Who did kill Pete Fairmont then?"
"I have no clue," Chuck told him, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "And we're running out of suspects."
There was a pause.
"Thanks for distracting the security guard by the way," he added. "Or it would have been near impossible for me to have sneaked into the employees-only area of this place."
"You're welcome," Nate responded, a small chuckle bubbling in his throat. "Of course, we were lucky that the security guard on duty tonight was a woman. My charms might not have worked on a guy if you know what I mean."
"Right," Chuck agreed, joining his best friend in laughter. "Anyway, we should probably go and find our dates now."
Nate nodded his head in consensus and the two headed off into the crowd in search of a beautiful blond and brunette.
Blair weaved her way through the dancing crowd looking for Serena. After about ten minutes of intense searching, she spotted the blond about a meter away having the time of her life, drink in hand.
"Serena!" Blair shouted over the blaring music as she approached her best friend. "I thought I told you not to leave!"
"You were taking so long Blair," she excused herself. "I figured I'd party while I wait. Come on! Dance with me!"
"Oh God," Blair commented as she allowed the blond to take her arms and wiggle them around. "You're already drunk."
"Not even close," the blond scoffed as she continued to shimmy on the dance floor. "So, what did you need to ask me earlier?"
"Do you swear that you were never in Pete's suite the night of his murder S?" Blair asked, deciding that there was no time for beating around the bush anymore.
Serena froze and stood there staring at her best friend. There was an evident anger in her eyes.
"I told you that I didn't kill him! I told you that I was never there that night!" Serena hissed loud enough for Blair's ears and Blair's ears only. "Why can't you believe me B?"
"Because you're not giving me reason to S!" she seethed back, furious that the blond couldn't just be honest with her. "They found your hair at the scene of the crime! Don't lie to me!"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Serena persisted, crossing her arms over her chest in defiance.
"Pete was blackmailing you with that tape you got Nate to retrieve from his bedroom, wasn't he?" Blair continued. "Don't bother lying to me S. My sources are reliable. You killed him to prevent the tape from becoming public knowledge, didn't you? Didn't you Serena?"
"How dare you!" Serena spat, careful to keep her voice hushed – not that anyone was really paying any mind to their quarrel.
Everyone was too busy partying the night away.
"Didn't you Serena?" Blair repeated, staring intently into her fiery eyes.
For a moment after that, all that could be heard was the synchronized sound of the girls' heavy breathing. Much to Blair's surprise, Serena betrayed no emotion and returned her stare with an equal if not stronger intensity.
"No," Serena emphasized. "For the last fucking time Blair, I didn't do it. If you really think I did, then why don't you prove it?"
The blond gave the brunette a tiny shove then.
"You did not just push me Serena," Blair said, an unmistakable warning in her voice.
The blond pushed her again and then challenged her, "You mean like that?"
There was a pause.
"I did," she assured her cockily.
Blair lunged for the blond then and the two of them hit the floor with a resounding thud. People started to gather around to watch the fight and observed in complete and utter amusement as Nate and Chuck pulled the girls apart. Blair and Serena were separated kicking and screaming until Chuck yelled for both of them to freeze and shut the fuck up. The boys both dropped them on their feet soon after and the girls then proceeded to make themselves more presentable, although they continued to glare at one another from a distance.
"Would either of you care to tell me what the fuck is going on here?" Chuck questioned as Bart assured the rest of the guests that everything was under control.
Both girls refused to answer his question as they began to pick up their belongings from up off the floor. Somehow the contents of their clutches had flown out during the fight. In the corner of her eye, Blair spotted three phones lying on the floor in close proximity to one another. One was hers. One was Serena's and she recognized the third one to belong to Nate. He must have dropped it unknowingly when he and Chuck were pulling Serena and her apart. Luckily for her, only she seemed to notice Nate's phone on the ground. She shoved the phone into her purse quickly, cursing when she noticed that his phone was password protected, before getting back up to face her boyfriend and his disapproving glare.
"We're leaving," she told him before he could reprimand her for her behaviour.
Chuck forced himself to remain silent as he sighed in defeat and nodded, following her out of the premises. Nate gave his best friend a final wave and a shrug before allowing Serena to lead him back into the once again, partying crowd.
The moment they stepped into the limo, Blair filled Chuck in on everything that had led up to her fight with Serena and he told her about everything he had discovered out about Bart, although needless to say, he was slightly pissed off that Blair had known about Bart's secret operation all along, but had failed to tell him so.
"You knew and you didn't tell me?" he accused her.
"It slipped my mind," she defended herself. "Besides, I only knew about the stock fraud and the cover up attempt. I had no idea about this Phillip Trishaw character or that he was with Bart that night."
"Whatever," Chuck said, rolling his eyes at the brunette. "I guess the important thing is that we both know now that Bart did not kill his own son. Now, about that theory of yours. I believe that Serena could have killed Pete and whatnot, but Nate is a professional. He would never help Serena cover up for her crime."
"Would you stake your life on it Bass?" she challenged him.
His hesitation in responding to her question was answer enough.
"Come on Chuck," Blair urged. "You're telling me that it's just a coincidence that Nate was the one to investigate the restaurant and the evidence I gave him only to find out that there were no clues whatsoever as to the murderer's identity?"
"It could be Blair," Chuck insisted, rubbing his chin. "Look, you're wrong. Janice was furious with Nate this morning when she found out that he had used her lab last night without her permission. Why would Nate even bother running the tests on the items if he was going to lie for Serena's sake anyway? Not to mention the fact that he spent a ridiculously long time at that restaurant that day searching for clues. Why wouldn't he have just looked around a bit and then simply told me that he had found nothing? Why spend hours questioning the kitchen staff and whatnot? Answer me that Blair."
"I don't know Chuck," she told him honestly. "I just know that I'm right. Something is telling me that I'm right. Serena killed Pete and Nate is covering up her crime."
Chuck sighed, refusing to look her in the eyes.
"I'll bring Serena in for questioning tomorrow as planned Waldorf, but I refuse to believe that Nate is involved like you insist he is. Nothing has given me reason to believe that," he said, standing firm.
"Fine," Blair finally conceded before turning away from him and staring out of the window of the moving vehicle.
She would just have to prove him wrong and she truly hoped that the contents of Nate's phone would be able to do just that. It was time to give Robert a call.
