A/N: Without a doubt, the next chapter will be the last. Leave me a review for all of my work on this chapter, yes?
Grave Danger
Chuck walked out of the building and headed towards his car only to find Jonathan and Eric leaning against it.
"Shouldn't you two be in school?" Chuck inquired, raising an eyebrow in their direction.
"Yes," Eric answered slowly. "This is our free period. Jonathan wanted to talk to you about something."
"Is this important?" Chuck asked. "I kind of need to be somewhere right now."
"Well, sort of," Jonathan answered. "I thought I should finally tell you what Pete was blackmailing the Humphreys with."
Chuck motioned for the boys to get in the car before slipping into the vehicle himself and putting his key into the ignition.
"And Serena?" he wondered, the moment he put the car in motion.
"I honestly don't know anything about her except that he was blackmailing her with some sort of tape," he revealed, a nervousness in his eyes.
"Relax Jonathan," Chuck told him, slightly disappointed that the boy knew nothing more about Serena than he already did. "I'm glad you've decided to tell me what you know about the Humphreys anyway."
"Well, yeah," Jonathan started, taking a deep breath, one hand curled tightly around his seat belt. "Eric convinced me to tell you actually."
Chuck glanced in his rear-view mirror then and smiled gratefully at his little brother, who smiled back in response.
"Now, tell me Jonathan," Chuck prodded him on. "What was Pete blackmailing the Humphreys with?"
"I'm not sure if this will help you with your case, but when Mrs. Humphrey was still married to Mr. van der Woodsen, she had a one-night stand with Mr. Humphrey. The next morning, the two of them had agreed that it had been a mistake and they parted ways, but the problem was that they hadn't been careful enough in their act of sin. Mrs. Humphrey got pregnant," Jonathan explained.
"What happened to the child then?" Chuck asked curiously, although he had a gut feeling of what the fate of that child had been.
"Mrs. Humphrey ultimately opted for an abortion," he revealed. "Keeping the baby simply wasn't an option because Mr. van der Woodsen would have known with certainty that the child wasn't his."
Intrigued, Chuck motioned for him to continue, careful to keep his eye on the road at the same time.
"Mr. Humphrey only found out she was even carrying his child after the abortion. He's forgiven her since of course, completely understanding the situation she was in, but Pete had been holding all of this above their heads for quite some time."
"And what would have been at stake if this news were to have become public knowledge?" Chuck questioned, although he didn't really see Lily and Rufus as suspects at this point in the case.
"Well, besides their reputation, it would have threatened the stability of their family as they know it," he answered truthfully.
"Yeah," Eric added. "I don't think Dan, Serena, and Jenny would be too thrilled to discover the truth. You're not going to tell anyone about all of this, right?"
Jonathan looked up at him too through the rear-view mirror as well for confirmation.
"Of course not," Chuck assured them both to which both boys breathed a sigh of relief. "Honestly, I don't view either of them as suspects in Pete's murder at this point in the investigation. After all, they had paid Pete off already. What would have been the point of killing him unless he had pushed them over the edge by asking for more or something?"
"Which he didn't," Jonathan enlightened him immediately.
"Right," Chuck emphasized as he rolled to stop in front of their school. "Well, here we are boys. Thanks again Jonathan for your help and I'll see you both for dinner tonight."
Eric and Jonathan murmured their agreement before climbing out of the car, slamming the door shut firmly behind them. Chuck started the engine again and this time, headed off in the direction of The Palace. Mr. and Mrs. Humphrey may not be suspects in his eyes anymore, but Serena sure as hell was and he was done waiting for Blair to prove her innocence. It was time to fish out the truth out from the blond herself.
Chuck had slept outside of her building last night again. She did not argue with him nor did she ask him to come in. She had stalked out of the limo and only dared to peer at him once from the window in her room. This morning, she had found a note on her side table from him informing her that he would be busy for the entire day and that Gina would be keeping a close eye on her at all times. She had flipped open her cell phone to call him then only to hang up before even the first ring had sounded. She had nothing to apologize for. Just as Chuck had every right to think that Serena had killed Pete, she had every right to believe that Nate was helping her cover up for her crime. Yes, she had nothing to apologize for. Her thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the door before her.
"Blair," Robert greeted her, motioning for her to step inside the house. "You said you needed my help on the phone?"
"Yes," she confirmed before following him up the stairs and to his room.
She seated herself in the chair next to him as he booted his computer before she spoke up.
"I need you to unlock this phone," Blair told him, taking the device out of her purse and offering it to him. "It's password protected."
Robert took the phone from her hand cautiously and turned it over several times in his own.
"Before I help you, whose phone is this exactly?" he inquired, pursing his lips in apparent thought.
"Detective Archibald's," Blair answered hesitantly.
"You stole a detective's phone Blair?" Robert clarified in disbelief. "For what purpose? Are you out of your mind?"
"Will you stop asking so many questions R?" Blair asked in frustration. "I'm trying to prove something and to do that I need to be able to access the contents of that phone. Are you going to help me or not?"
"Fine," Robert conceded, rubbing his forehead in obvious irritation. "But only because I didn't come up with much last time when you came to see me about Bart and Vanessa."
"Thank you," Blair said gratefully as Robert rummaged through his desk drawer for the right equipment.
"So, I heard about you and Detective Bass," Robert started, trying to make small talk as he connected a small wire from the phone to his computer in an attempt to get the device to access its contents. "Congratulations. I never knew you had it in you to cheat on someone B. I thought cheating was unforgivable."
"It is," Blair retorted. "What you did to me was different!"
Robert laughed at this as he opened a few files on his computer.
"How so?" he asked curiously, crossing his arms over his chest in complete amusement.
"You didn't love Serena," Blair quickly blurted out, clamping her hand over her mouth the moment she had realized what she had just said.
"No!" Robert commented, incredulity overtaking his features. "You're in love with that jackass? And by the way, cheating is cheating Blair. Admit it. You committed exactly the same crime that I did."
"Fine! I admit it, but I felt bad about it later. I swear," Blair revealed, purposely avoiding confirming what she had alluded to earlier regarding her feelings for Chuck.
"So did I," Robert told her.
"Well, I forgive you just like Dan has forgiven me," Blair huffed, crossing her arms over her chest in annoyance. "Now, have you unlocked the phone or not?"
Robert smirked and swiveled back around to face his computer.
"Not only have I unlocked the phone B, I've extracted all of its contents onto my computer for easy snooping," he assured her, deciding not to push their previous, unwelcome conversation any further. "What are you looking for exactly?"
"Actually Robert," Blair started, an apologetic look in her chocolate eyes. "I'd rather not say. Would you mind if I looked through everything myself?"
Robert looked at her sceptically. He never let anyone touch his computer. Ever.
"Blair, you know my one and only rule regarding my computer," he reminded her.
"I know," she whined. "Nobody gets to touch it but you. Can't you make an exception just this once? Please? I promise I'll only poke my nose into whatever was in that phone. I swear I won't nose around in anything else."
"After all these years and that stupid pout of yours still works on me," he muttered under his breath as he stood up to leave. "I'm coming back in ten minutes Blair and by then, you'd better be gone and with that phone too. Whatever you're doing, it better not get me in trouble with the authorities."
"Please," Blair scoffed, rolling her eyes at him. "Like you aren't in trouble with them already on a daily basis."
"Hey!" he teased as he strode out of the room. "It's been a good three weeks since I last had a run in with the cops. You have ten minutes Blair."
The moment Robert had left the room, the brunette immediately checked Nate's incoming and outgoing calls starting a few days before the murder. Nate and Serena had only started to contact each other after the murder and seemed to call each other often, but that was all the logs could tell her. She then checked his text messages. There was nothing unusual there. The blonds seemed to be a loving couple who truly cared about one another. Perhaps her theory had been ridiculous all along. Surely if Serena had asked Nate to help her cover up for her crime or Nate had volunteered to do so himself, there would be a record of them doing so. She supposed they could have only talked about it in phone calls or in person, but she knew Serena had a preference for text messages.
What about his voicemails? She scrolled through the list of old voicemail messages only to click on the one that caught her eye almost immediately. Nate had listened to it sixty four times and it had been recorded approximately at the time of Pete's untimely death. Curious, Blair opened the audio file expecting to hear Serena's voice only to be disappointed when it was that of a stranger's. Someone named Andrew Tyler was informing Nate that he had mixed up the envelopes and that he wanted to meet with him as soon as possible to give him the right one. Apparently, Nate had yet to pay him for his services as well. What envelopes? What services? And where had she heard the name Andrew Tyler before?
"Blair dear," Mrs. Wilkinson called out to her, waving a stiff hand in her direction. "There you are!"
The brunette smiled politely and made her way over to the group of gossiping women. Mrs. Wilkinson, of course, was the biggest gossip of them all.
"Mrs. Wilkinson," she greeted the older woman courteously. "It's nice to see you again."
"And you my dear! And how many times have I ask you to call me Beatrice?" she voiced in response, resting a hand lightly on her arm. "Where is your darling mother tonight?"
"I think she stepped out for a bit of fresh air," Blair informed her, taking a step back from her touch. "I'll ask her to come and find you when she returns."
With that, Blair gave one final smile to the ladies around her and headed back in the direction in which she came only to be stopped yet again by Mrs. Wilkinson.
"Blair dear," she started. "Come chat with us for a bit."
The other women tittered in agreement and Blair simply couldn't decline. It would have been rude if she did.
"You're quite close with Serena, are you not?" Mrs. Wilkinson wondered, fidgeting with the pearls around her neck.
"Yes," Blair answered, eyeing her curiously. "Why do you ask?
"Well, I heard from a reliable source that Lily hired Andrew Tyler to investigate her husband. He's one of the best PIs there is, don't you know? Apparently, Rufus was having an affair with his ex-wife, Allison! How scandalous!" she exclaimed as the other ladies in the group bobbed their heads up and down in agreement.
Blair fought hard not to roll her eyes in their presence, digging her nails in the palm of her hands to prevent herself from doing so.
"And what does all that have to do with Serena?" Blair questioned, forcing a smile for the sake of getting an answer.
"Oh!" Mrs. Wilkinson informed her. "We were simply wondering if you knew what Andrew Tyler might have discovered. Surely if the affair was indeed found to be true, a divorce would be in order and surely, Serena would have told you if she knew that her mother and Rufus were in the middle of a nasty divorce, would she not?"
"Yes, she would," Blair answered, desperately wanting to wrap her hands around the woman's stout neck and strangle her to death. "But I can assure you Mrs. Wilkinson that their marriage is stronger than ever and that Mr. Humphrey was most certainly not having an affair with his ex-wife."
"And you're sure of this?" Miss Marks butted in, her eyes drowning in skepticism.
Blair knew that Miss Marks had always had her sights set on Rufus Humphrey.
"I assure you that my sources are always reliable Elizabeth," Blair drawled. "In fact, they're just about as reliable as your sources Beatrice and we all know how reliable those are. Well, I'd love to stay and gossip some more ladies, but I have a date to attend to. Enjoy the party."
Blair disappeared off into the crowd then without another word, leaving Mrs. Wilkinson and her party in the sole company of their shocked expressions.
Andrew Tyler was a PI! She remembered that now, but two questions still remained. What envelopes? What services? Blair shook her head in an attempt to clear her clouded mind and left the premises with Nate's phone in hand. She was done guessing. It was time to fish out the truth from the blond himself.
Chuck sighed in frustration as he stepped inside his office. Today was just his lucky day. He had driven all the way to The Palace just now only to find out that Serena was out for the day and would only be returning later on in the evening. He would just have to try to reach her again later. He walked over to his desk then and stopped short when he noticed that someone was seated in one of his chairs, waiting to see him.
"Oh Detective Bass," Andrew greeted him, standing up to shake his hand upon seeing the brunette enter the room. "I'm terribly sorry, but your staff assured me that it would be alright with you if I waited in here for your return."
"Of course," Chuck said, giving his hand a firm shake. "I have nothing to hide in here Mr...?"
"Andrew Tyler, sir," he informed him before taking the seat that Chuck was offering him. "And actually, I'm here to see Detective Archibald, but apparently, he has the day off. I figured I would trouble you instead. You are his best friend, yes?"
"Yes, he does and I am. Now, how may be of assistance Mr. Tyler?" Chuck inquired, tidying his desk as he spoke.
"I left him a message a few days ago regarding a careless mix up on my part," Andrew explained. "Would you be so kind as to pass on this envelope on to him and to remind him that I expect to be paid for my services as well?"
Chuck received the envelope with uncertainty and said, "Of course Mr. Tyler. I'll be sure to do so."
"Thank you," the man voice gratefully before getting up from his seat and making his departure.
Chuck continued to stare at the envelope before him in curiosity even minutes after Mr. Tyler had left. It wasn't his place to pry into Nate's private life, but his need to know things was currently eating him up. Nate was probably planning to tell him everything anyway. They never kept secrets from each other, right? With that thought in mind, he slowly took the envelope in his hands and opened it, eager to find out exactly what was inside.
Blair strode out of the elevator towards her destination. She raised a hand to ring the door bell only to stop herself when she realized that Nate already had a guest. She could hear their muffled voices from the other side of the barrier. The brunette instantly pressed her ear to the door in an attempt to listen in on their conversation. Unfortunately, she was only able to catch onto a few words here and there. From what she had gathered though, she suspected that some girl was confessing her love for Nate to Nate and that he was rejecting her. Who was she? Jenny perhaps? The voice was too muffled for her to tell. She raised her arm then and took a deep breath before depressing the white button before her. Moments later, the door swung open to reveal Nate and just as she had predicted, Jenny, who was standing quietly behind him.
"Blair, what are you doing here?" Nate asked, glancing back at Jenny for a brief moment.
"Oh," Blair explained herself. "I wanted to talk to you about something regarding the case, but I can see you're busy. I'll come back later."
She made a move to leave only to be stopped by the younger blond not that the brunette was ever really planning to leave anyway.
"No," Jenny insisted, running to grab her purse from up off the couch. "I was just about to leave. Really."
"Jenny," Nate started upon hearing her words, a dejected sigh escaping from his lips. "I..."
"I'll see you around Nate," she interrupted him before striding past Blair towards the elevator.
"I'm really sorry Nate," Blair apologized, although she really wasn't sorry at all. "I had no idea I was interrupting something."
"Oh no," Nate revealed, motioning for her to step into his apartment. "It wasn't anything important. Really. Jenny just needed to know something from me is all."
"Right," she responded, knowing full well what he was talking about and not wanting to push the subject any further.
Poor Jenny. She knew the girl was probably irreparably heartbroken at his rejection of her.
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Nate asked as he took a seat beside her on the couch.
He turned his head to the side and looked at her expectantly, twiddling his thumbs as he did so.
"Oh!" Blair exclaimed, reaching for her purse. "You dropped your phone at the party last night. I thought I'd bring it back to you."
She rummaged through her purse to retrieve said item and placed it in his waiting hand the moment she had it.
"Thanks," he said warily, averting his gaze from her for a split second. "Did you...?"
"Of course not!" Blair answered him quickly. "Besides, your phone was locked."
Nate frowned and said, "Right. So, tell me why it's unlocked right now exactly?"
Blair gulped and mentally scolded herself for her blunder. She had forgotten to re-lock the phone!
"Well, I...I..." she stuttered, unable to come up with a plausible explanation, especially on such short notice.
"You know what?" Nate started, offering her a reassuring smile. "Don't even worry about it. So, you said you wanted to talk to me about something regarding the case? Can I get you a drink?"
Before Blair could say no to the drink, Nate got up and strode into the kitchen on his own accord.
"Thanks," Blair shouted after him as she heard him retrieve a glass from the cabinet.
Should she just confront him with her theory? Would that be too forward? She knew Serena would never tell her the truth and Nate was the weaker link in their relationship. Maybe he would crumble the moment she laid her theory on him. Surely he felt somewhat guilty for helping Serena cover up for her crime. At this point in time, Blair was unable to connect the voicemail she had heard to the case at all, so she didn't really plan on bringing that up.
"Nate," the brunette said carefully. "I think I know who murdered Pete."
"Really?" Nate asked her from the kitchen. "Who?"
"Nate," Blair started. "I think you know who murdered Pete better than I do; better than anyone does. I have proof and I'm about to go to Chuck with the evidence. I came here first because I wanted to give you a chance to get that person to give themselves up."
She was flat out lying to him about the having proof part, but she needed something to scare him into admitting to his dirty deeds. Perhaps, after his confession, he would be willing to band together with her to convince Serena to give herself up. Blair didn't know much about the law, but without doubt they would reduce her sentence if she did so. Nate was in love with Serena. Blair was confident that he would want what was best for her. Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by an unfamiliar clicking sound. She looked up in horror to find Nate standing before her, a gun held firmly in his right hand.
"Get up Blair," Nate told her, keeping the weapon aimed at her forehead. "And hand me your phone."
