The Naked and the Dead Ch. 03 - Final

I was Number 16. Gail and Samantha stayed with me as I moved closer to my time on stage. Samantha did a short interview, asking what I was thinking as I prepared to appear nude in front of twenty thousand people. I don't recall what I said.

Gail and I went nude at home all the time. We were usually nude if we were with Samantha and Harry or Alexis and Jean-Paul. We had gone nude in small groups with some of their friends. The pageant was our first experience being nude in public place among mostly strangers. After standing in the sun for a long time with 44 other nude people, I was no longer conscious that I had no clothes on.

When I went onstage, I became acutely aware I was naked. A quick look at the crowd made me believe the Resort's claim of 20,000 people. I was very conscious of the sun on my dick and my bare ass. The attractive blonde in shorts and a tank top holding the microphone looked me up and down as I approached and smiled. She introduced me as "in law enforcement in Southwest Florida." I heard a female voice yell, "take me into custody" followed by some laughs. The blonde gestured that I should do my walk.

As I walked slowly along the stage, I had never felt so exposed. Feeling exposed felt good. Knowing the crowd was looking at my nude body made me happy. This was fun. Showing off to a crowd was a thrill. I reached the end of the stage, did a full turn, and started slowly back.

When I reached the blonde halfway along the stage, I did another full turn. With her hand over the mike, the blonde softly said, "good job." I walked slowly to the steps, did a final full turn, and regretfully climbed down from the stage.

As I reached the ground, Samantha and Harry were waiting. "What was it like?" Samantha asked.

"Great!" I replied. "I'm sorry I had to come off stage."

Smiling, Samantha asked on tape, "You enjoyed having twenty thousand people see your nude body?"

"Very much," I answered. "You will too."

Harry turned the recorder off before Samantha said, "I know. I can't wait."

I went out enthusiastically when we went on stage again as a group. We stood in a line facing the sea of clothed people. It's hard to express how good I felt knowing that they were looking at my bare chest, bare thighs, and bare dick and balls. The moment ended much too soon.

The men came off stage and the women lined up. There were only twenty women. I thought Gail and Samantha were, by far, the most attractive women in the group, but I'm biased. Samantha was Number Seven. Gail was Fourteen. I stood beside Gail holding her hand as we awaited her turn on stage.

Samantha came off stage bubbling. She hugged and kissed Harry. Then she came to us and threw her arms around Gail. "You are going to love this!" Samantha said. The look in Gail's eyes said she wasn't entirely sure about that.

Gail reached the base of the steps quickly. A man had taken over the PA. When he called for Number 14, I kissed Gail and then enjoying watching her bare ass as she climbed the steps. Gail also was introduced as "in law enforcement in Southwest Florida." A man called out "I surrender!"

Unfortunately, I could not see Gail's solo turn on stage. She was smiling broadly as she came back down the steps. At the bottom, she stepped out of Number 15's way then hugged me tight. We kissed. Gail said in my ear, "the only bad part is that we can't be up there naked together."

Samantha and Harry came over and interviewed Gail. Gail expressed the joy of being naked on stage more articulately than I had. I followed as Gail resumed her place in line behind 13. We kissed repeatedly until all the women were called on stage.

Watching the women come down the steps one after the other, I didn't see how Gail and Samantha could not be first and second. I thought third place would go to a young redhead with an innocent face, a lush body, sexy freckles, and an elaborate tattoo on one hip. Once Gail and Samantha were both down, Harry joined us. Samantha recorded some more narrative and interviewed other contestants. Gail and I agreed we didn't care where we placed, that it had been fun to do.

There was another long wait. Finally, the announcers came on stage together. "Ladies and gentlemen," the man announced, "we have the judges' decision." I had no idea who or where the judges were.

"First, the men," the woman announced. "Third place goes to Number 16."

Gail put her arms around me and kissed me. Samantha slapped my ass and said, "get up there, but know I had you in first." I was shocked to have placed but was grateful for more time on stage.

I went up the steps and walked to center stage. The male announcer had moved upstage, leaving the woman to greet the men's winners. She had been perspiring in the heat. Her tank top looked painted onto her largeish breasts. I walked up to her. She said "congratulations," placed a sash over my shoulder, and gave me a quick kiss. She told me to stand to her left.

The woman announcer called out second and first place winners, both bodybuilders. The three of us stood on stage together as the woman waved her arm towards us and said, "let's applaud the men's winners." After a decent round of applause, the woman told us to stay put. She handed the microphone to the man announcer.

He began grandiosely, "and now for the most beautiful nude women in Florida, the winners of the Paradise Run Memorial Day Women's Nude Pageant!" That drew louder applause, cheers, whistles, and other noises. The announcer paused for a moment before declaring that "the second runner-up is Number Seven!"

I was slightly disappointed as Samantha came up the steps. I could think of only one woman who should place ahead of her, not two. The announcer put a sash over Samantha, gave her a small bouquet of flowers, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Samantha then came to me and gave me a tight nude hug. That was nice.

Samantha took her place on stage. "And now," the announcer said, "the first runner-up is. . . Number Fourteen!" Gail looked very naked as she came on stage. The afternoon sun highlighted her hair. Her blue eyes were gleaming above a wide smile. The angle of the light emphasized the gentle curves of her body. Her skin seemed to glow. She looked exquisitely beautiful and sexy.

Gail went through the routine with the announcer then came to me. We hugged and kissed. "You know this woman?" the announcer asked me over the PA.

"She's my wife," I replied.

"We have a husband and wife are up here nude together," the announcer told the crowd. "Let's give them a hand!" We got a round of applause.

Gail stood next to Samantha. The announcer said, "And now . . . the winner of the Paradise Run Memorial Day Women's Nude Pageant is . . . Number Eleven!" There was applause and whistling. Number 11 was the young redhead. I guess the judges liked tattoos and freckles more than I did.

The announcers had us pair up by placing, which paired me with Samantha. We paraded around the stage. The woman announcer thanked the crowd for coming and gave a long plug for Paradise Run Resort. While she was doing that, another Resort staffer took pictures of the winners individually, of the men's and women's winners as groups, and of all six winners together. We were assured that the photos would only be posted at the Resort and used in the Resort's newsletter.

Harry was behind the Resort's photographer videoing everything. Samantha interviewed the women's winner, Patsy from Plant City, and the men's first and second place finishers, Brandon and Rod. Another Resort staffer told us she had a van and wanted to take the winners to the Resort.

We had to get our clothes. The dumpster had already been unlocked for the other contestants. It was a mess and we couldn't find our clothes. A staffer helped us go through every remaining garbage bag. Our clothes weren't there. Gail looked at me, smiled, and said, "I guess we're stuck going nude." None of us had put anything valuable in the garbage bags and we had other clothes in Samantha's car. It was a surprisingly good feeling to be nude with Gail with no immediate access to any clothes.

Wearing only our sashes, we climbed into the van. I was in the back between Gail and Samantha. Patsy sat in the row in front of us, dwarfed by Brandon and Rod. Harry, with his media credential, got the front passenger seat.

At the Resort, the staffer led us into the crowded pool area. Someone made a PA announcement that we were the winners of the first Paradise Run Memorial Day Nude Pageant. There was polite applause, but the people at the pools didn't seem too interested.

That was it. The staffer who had brought us to the Resort took Patsy, Brandon, and Rod back to the pageant site to find Patsy's boyfriend and Brandon's and Rod's girlfriends. We went to Samantha's car. Instead of dressing fully, Gail, Samantha, and I just put on long tee shirts for the drive back to Ft. Myers. Gail and I would ride in the back seat. The tee shirts would allow us access to each other.

At Samantha and Harry's beachfront home that night, Samantha recorded a long discussion among her, Gail, and me about our pageant experience. We agreed it had been fun and being on stage nude in front of thousands of people was a thrill; but it wasn't something we'd do regularly. Gail and I stayed with Samantha and Harry that night. On Memorial Day, we walked to Alexis and Jean-Paul's for a cookout. Jean-Paul's cookouts are extraordinary.

A couple of nights later, Samantha e-mailed us a copy of the edited video she would send to Nude Frontiers. It was well done. That was our first opportunity to watch the pageant. I was reminded how beautiful Gail had looked that day. The video showed Gail and me fully nude many times, but that was the point. We were okay with it. Besides, of people who knew us, who would go to the Nude Frontiers site other than the friends we regularly went nude with?

Gail and I knew that there was software that allowed people to search the Web for images. We didn't know software could find us in Samantha's video on Nude Frontiers. We also didn't know that Jim Worth's supporters were scouring the Web for "dirt" on us.

A day after Samantha's video went up on Nude Frontiers, it was, seemingly, everywhere. It and copies of our pageant questionnaires were posted on a "Jim Worth American Hero" Facebook page. Worth, free on bond pending appeal, gave a radio interview saying that the fact that the investigators in his case did such profoundly immoral things proved the evidence against him had been fabricated.

The day after Worth's interview, there were protesters outside the building housing the Sheriff's Department offices. They demanded that I be fired and jailed. I spent most of that day re-reading our personnel policies and code of conduct. At home that night, Gail was in tears. Her building also had protesters and the Governor had gotten e-mail demanding that FDLE fire the "slut" Gail Mueller.

Major Bowen called me into his office the next morning. "Mueller," he said, "I personally don't care. Nudie resorts are legal in Florida. I wouldn't go to one but, with that stunning wife of yours, I understand why you do. But, why the hell did you do this so soon after Worth's conviction?"

Bowen paused before continuing. "What I think doesn't matter. The man in the big office a floor above us is your problem. Having one of his officers finish third in a 'nude pageant' doesn't square with his 'law, order, and morality' campaign slogan."

"Major," I replied, "I've checked our policies and the statutes. There is no rule against what Gail and I did. He can't take action against me."

"You're wrong," Bowen said. "The rules say you can be dismissed for 'conduct which brings the Department into disrepute.' The Sheriff thinks we're in disrepute now. If he fires you for cause, you automatically lose your law enforcement certification. You can fight it. Maybe you'll win and be reinstated. Then, you'll get only shit assignments. It won't matter if you stay squeaky clean. They will get or manufacture something to fire and, maybe, prosecute you. I've seen it before. Ian, the Boss ordered me to tell you that you either resign by 9:00 a.m. tomorrow or you'll be fired for cause. Go home. Think carefully."

I had to drive through the protesters to leave the parking lot. As I did, someone poured a brown liquid on my windshield. I'd just reached the street when my phone rang. It was Gail. She had received a similar ultimatum from her boss. "I'll meet you at home," I said.

I wasn't prepared for people standing in our cul-de-sac holding signs saying, "Justice for Jim Worth" and "Death to Sinners." I turned around and called Gail back. I told her what was going on at home and said, "let's go to Samantha and Harry's." We had keys and knew their security code.

Samantha was devastated, blaming herself for talking us into the pageant and having the video posted. Trying to reassure her momentarily distracted Gail and me from our problem. About an hour later, Alexis and Jean-Paul showed up. I guess Harry had called them. They were angry about how Gail and I were being treated.

After another hour, emotions subsided and the six of us had a long talk about where we went from there. The unanimous conclusion was that Gail and I had no choice but to resign from our jobs. I didn't like it, but I could move on. I had started out as a lawyer and moved to law enforcement when I became disenchanted with the practice. I still had my Ohio and Florida law licenses. The decision was wrenching for Gail. She had wanted to be a cop since childhood. FDLE was the top of that profession, at least in Florida. I held her for a long time while she cried.

Gail and I resigned the next morning. The protesters left our cul-de-sac once our resignations were announced. We still had to put our house on the market. With no income, we couldn't make the payments. Neither the Sheriff's Department nor FDLE paid well enough that we'd rebuilt our savings yet. At least through the summer low season, we could live in one of the rental properties Gail's parents owned in the Keys. With moist eyes and a weak smile, Gail said, "at least we'll have an excuse for going nude all the time: we can't afford clothes."

We had some vindication a few days after we closed the sale of our house. Laura Worth had not testified at her husband's trial. His lawyers had gotten the judge to rule that Laura's testimony could not be used against her husband under the spousal privilege. Laura had now given an interview to the News Press.

In the front-page article, Laura said that she "still didn't think Jim was capable of killing Lisa." However, she corroborated everything in Lisa's letter to Andrea Cupp (reprinted in the article) and added many more details. "Jim, Lisa, and I all loved sex in many different forms," Laura was quoted as saying. "Life's too short to be a prude." The interviewer asked Laura to reconcile that with Jim's carefully honed image as a conservative, family values politician. "Jim said what he needed to say to get elected," Laura had replied.

My former colleagues were called to the Worth home the night Laura's interview was published. Neighbors heard screams and things breaking inside the home. Jim Worth was gone. Laura was lying nude amidst broken china and glassware on the kitchen floor. She had been cut up and beaten.

Laura Worth survived. Jim Worth's conviction for murdering his daughter was affirmed and his habeas petitions were denied. Jim was also convicted of attempted murder of Laura. Sex, even the incest, was not the Worth family's main problem. The main problem was Jim Worth's violence and hypocrisy.

The direction Gail's and my lives took after the Worth case is a separate story. Gail and I are still together and wear clothes as infrequently as possible.