The Investigation

This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to any real person are entirely coincidental and unintended.

_________________________________________

Liz and I slept in the Sunday morning after the resort's lingerie party. We were still in bed when our room phone rang. It was on Liz's side of the bed so she got it. I heard Liz's side of the conversation:

"Hi. Yeah, I thought that was your doing. Thanks, that was actually nice."

"Yes, it was a very good time."

"Really, I am sorry to hear that. We'll miss you."

"Oh thanks! Sure, we'd love to."

"Ok. We'll be there."

Liz put down the phone and explained, "That was Karen. She said that she got the DJ to pick us as the special couple last night. They are leaving tomorrow morning. John has to visit his dealership in Savannah and then they are driving up to see friends in Charleston. They invited us for dinner at their house tonight around six." Liz giggled, "Karen said not to dress for dinner."

"That means two days here when we can't be investigators," I said. We weren't leaving until Wednesday. "I guess we'll just have to take a couple of days' vacation."

"Vacation?" Liz joked. "I don't have anything to wear!"

"What you have on is perfect." I said. Of course, Liz was nude. She smiled at me.

"I don't think that we are running today," Liz said. "What do you want to do?"

"I guess that we just sun our buns by the pool," I replied as I got out of bed.

"That works for me," Liz replied as I walked towards the outside door. "Where are you going?"

"Your coffee?"

"I love you."

Liz had her coffee. We cleaned up a bit and headed out to the pool. It was crowded with people having, I assumed, their last nude hours before starting another work week. Fortunately, we found two chaises together.

We had been lying out for, maybe, an hour when a very attractive tall blonde walked up holding a volleyball. "Hi," she said. "Would you like to play sand volleyball?" She pointed to one of the sand courts where a thin young man, presumably her partner, stood alone.

Liz and I looked at each other. To me, Liz said, "We need some exercise." To the girl, Liz said, "Sure. We'll play." Liz didn't give me time to tell her that, except for the water volleyball the day before, I hadn't played any volleyball since high school and even then only at picnics.

We went over to the court. The girl introduced herself as Caitlyn and her partner as Rob. I guessed that they were five or six years younger than Liz and me.

As I mentioned before, Liz is very competitive. She's also a damned good volleyball player, due to her natural athleticism I assume. My job became setting the ball for Liz to let her score the points. Despite being a couple of inches shorter than I am, Liz has an amazing vertical leap. She could also cover a large part of the court very quickly. Those skills enabled Liz to turn a surprising number of my bad sets into points.

Caitlyn was also a very good player. Rob was a bit above my level. We played four long games in the sun, splitting them 2-2. We were all four fatigued. Caitlyn announced that we'd play a fifth and deciding game. That game was a struggle and youth finally prevailed.

After we lost, Caitlyn came to the net. "You two are pretty good. How often do you play?" "You two" was being very kind to me. Liz was the one who was good. Liz answered as I sucked air. "Not much. I was a diver in college. Harry played football, but that was all a few years ago."

"Wow," Caitlyn said. "I played at FGCU. I just graduated last year."

"I thought that you were a real player," I panted.

We were all four very sweaty with sand in all sorts of places. Pointing to the outdoor shower, Rob said, "Come on. Let's clean off."

Liz and I followed Caitlyn and Rob to the shower. It seemed a little small for four, so we stood back as Caitlyn and Rob walked under the showerhead and turned it on. Caitlyn turned back to us. "Come on. Join us."

I looked at Liz. She shrugged and walked under the shower. I followed. Liz and I were washed off each other's fronts. When we finished, Caitlyn asked, "Harry, would you wash my back?"

I looked at Liz, who smiled and nodded. As I stepped over to Caitlyn, Liz said, "Rob, would you do my back?"

Caitlyn and Liz stood facing each other under the water as Rob and I washed the back of the other guy's partner. Caitlyn was an attractive, athletic girl. I'm not going to lie to you and say that I didn't enjoy washing her. When I had finished the small of her back, Caitlyn said, "Please, go on down."

Who was I to argue? I washed off her firm ass and the backs of her legs. I noticed that Liz had Rob wash her all the way down too. We did dry off our own partners.

Newly showered, Caitlyn said, "Now that we've had some exercise, would you guys like a beer?" Liz and I followed Caitlyn and Rob to the tiki bar where we found four empty stools together. I sat on the end, putting Liz next to Caitlyn.

Trish came over to get our orders. She had her shorts back on that day. I asked her, "Trish, do you take a day off?"

"Shit. I can't afford to" was the response.

Over beers, we did the superficial exchange of life stories. Caitlyn and Rob had met in school at FGCU. Rob had lucked out at graduation, being hired by a Tampa bank that was also helping him get an MBA at USF. Caitlyn had a communications degree.

"I thought that I'd catch on with a newspaper or local TV, maybe working on their website," Caitlyn said. "I'm good with multi-media. But, it is really hard just to get someone to talk you, much less getting hired. I'm picking up a few bucks modeling. I mostly model clothes for local clothing store ads in the papers. I also had a shoot for a day spa in Ft. Myers that ran in one of those free magazines they give away to the tourists."

Rob proudly said, "Caitlyn did her first nude shoot a week ago yesterday."

I wasn't sure that Caitlyn had wanted Rob to share that. However, she elaborated, "Yeah, one of the photographers who shoots me in ads also does art photos. He offered me $500 to do nudes on a beach about two hours north of here. He seemed ok, but I brought Rob just to be safe."

Caitlyn sipped her beer. "It was really kind of cool. I mean, I go nude here, my folks are members, and we've gone to Haulover and Playalinda. But, last Saturday, I was naked somewhere that isn't a nude beach. And, I was the only one naked. It was funny. Some fishermen walked past at one point. They sure looked, but they didn't say anything." Caitlyn giggled. "The photographer owns the pictures so I suppose that they'll re-surface twenty years from now when I'm doing something serious and high-profile."

Wisely, Rob said, "That will just prove how beautiful you were at 23." Caitlyn smiled at him

Trish had brought over more beers. "Hey," she said to Caitlyn, "I'd love to do some nude modeling if you can connect me."

Caitlyn reflexively said. "Let me see." Trish walked off to serve other customers.

To us, Caitlyn said, "From what I understand, Trish isn't really what the photographers are looking for these days." To Liz, Caitlyn said, "Now, if you wanted to pose nude, I'm sure that you could get a lot of work."

Liz laughed. "It sounds like fun, but I'd have to think about it for a while. I'm not sure that would fit with my career goals."

We chatted with Caitlyn and Rob for another half hour or so. Then Caitlyn said that they had to leave and "go back to real life." Liz and I spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool.

At a couple of minutes past six, Liz and I had left the path which we had run on Friday and were going up the walk to the house with the number Karen had given Liz.. Except for Liz's mini-fanny containing our room key, which Liz held twisted around a wrist, we were naked and barefoot.

Before we even reached the door, Karen had opened it, saying "It is so good to see you two again." As we entered their house, Karen gave each of us a bare hug. I have to say that Karen felt nice. "John's in the back working on the grill," Karen explained.

I left Karen and Liz chatting in the kitchen as I went out to the backyard to see John. Karen's and John's back yard was slightly larger than I had expected. It was semi-secluded. While there was some view into the neighbors' yards, the view was mostly obscured by foliage. John had already set up a perimeter of lit citronella torches for bug control.

John was at the grill. On a counter extending out from the grill was a platter with four nice-looking steaks. John and I talked for a while about nothing consequential. When he deemed the fire about ready, John asked me, "Would you go inside and ask Karen how she wants her steak? Sometimes she wants it medium or times medium rare."

I went back inside. Interrupting Liz and Karen, I made a small mistake. I asked Karen, "How do you want your meat?"

Karen laughed. Looking directly at my dick, she answered, "A lot firmer than what I'm seeing at the moment." That drew a laugh from Liz. After re-phrasing my question, I learned that Karen wanted medium rare that night. I relayed that to John and said that Liz wanted medium rare as well. I had no idea how Liz likes her steak, but it was something that a husband should know and I trusted Liz not to disclose my ignorance.

We had a very pleasant dinner at the picnic table in the back yard. Over several glasses of wine, the conversation became surprisingly personal. I had no sense that Karen and John were holding anything back. I still did not hear anything that suggested a lead towards proving that John was a major drug dealer. The time Liz and I had spent preparing paid off. We were, as I remember it, able to stay consistent with our legend and with each other.

After we had helped clean up dinner, Karen led us into a room apparently used as a study. "I want to show you our photo album of some of our nude vacations," she said.

Karen took us through page after page of pictures of them, usually with other people, nude in a variety of situations. There was an excellent picture of Karen nude on a beach with just a small red sliver of the sun still above the horizon behind her. Towards the end of the album, there was a picture that looked like Karen and John on the netting that goes between hulls of a catamaran. The picture showed John on top of Karen and it was clear that they were fucking. At the edges of the picture, you could see bare feet and calves standing on the hulls on each side.

"Damn, I forgot that one," Karen said. "I should have pulled that out."

"Are you. . . .?" Liz asked.

Karen laughed. "Yeah, we were making love. We don't do it often, but having sex in front of other people is an unbelievably erotic experience. Besides, there's nothing wrong with sex. It is how we all got here after all. And, I think that doing the most intimate thing which you can do with your partner in front of other people is a pretty powerful expression of your love for your partner."

Liz was smiling, but shook her head. "I'm not sure that I could do that," she said. "At least, it would have to be a very special situation."

"You should try it," Karen responded. "You didn't really do it last night because John and I and Steph and Bill were a little too busy to watch you. The orgasm you'll have when you know that people are watching will make it worthwhile."

Not long after that, John said, "I hate to end a pleasant evening, but Karen and I have to get up early tomorrow and drive." Liz and I thanked Karen and John, sincerely, for the dinner and for all of their kindness during our stay at the resort.

As we were leaving, Karen said, "As long as you two don't have any outside commitments, you ought to come back soon. We can have a lot more fun around here."

John added. "Yeah, we'd love to see you back very soon. If I know that you're coming, I can have the boat ready and take you out on the Gulf."

As we walked back to our room, Liz asked me, "So, what did you think about Karen and John having sex in front of an audience?"

"I don't know," I replied. "I suppose that, in the right situation, it could be a thrill."

"Hum. Are you a bit kinky?" Liz asked, smiling.

Liz and I spent the last two days at the resort nude, acting like a married couple on vacation. That included, of course, a lot of lovemaking. The number of people staying at the resort seemed much less by Monday morning. Most of the people still there seemed to be more-or-less permanent residents. Liz and I had to assume that everything which we did and said would get back to Karen and John. For that reason, we had to be very circumspect about asking any questions about them. Our week at the resort had been a complete bust in terms of getting information to put John in jail. In other ways, it had been about the best week of my life. I hoped that Liz felt that way too.

As we were sitting in Atlanta airport that Wednesday, waiting for our connection to Cleveland, Liz said, "This is the longest I've worn clothes in a week. I'm amazed that I've changed this quickly, but clothes are no longer comfortable. I'd love to take all of this off." I was pleased at the suggestion that our mutual nudity would continue away from the resort.

Liz had to wait a long while before she could strip. The connecting flight was delayed with the consequence that we reached Hopkins in time to get stuck in the evening rush hour. It was almost seven in the evening when we finally got "home." Liz unlocked the door to the house as I brought our few bags from the car. By the time I was inside with our bags, Liz had stripped off. Seeing Liz nude, I immediately took off my own clothes before I did anything else. We both felt better. We were both also tired. Why does air travel do that?

After getting settled, Liz said, "What are we doing about dinner? There's no food here and I'm too tired to go out."

"I guess that leaves delivery," I said. "Any ideas who to call?" Neither of us knew Cleveland all that well.

"Just call one of the national pizza chains," Liz replied. "I'm looking for convenience here, not quality." I phoned-in our order and did have the presence of mind to pull my wallet out of my trousers to pay. I did not have the presence of mind to refrain from taking our bags and our clothes upstairs to a bedroom closet. I came back downstairs and Liz and I resumed our ongoing discussion about how to get some useful information about Smith.

We were so used to be nude together that we did not think about the fact that we were until the front doorbell rang, followed quickly by insistent knocking. Liz stood up to answer the door and then looked down at her bare body. "Shit," she said. Then she smiled, took some money from my wallet, and went to answer the door nude. She was back a few moments later carrying a pizza box, and drinks and smiling more broadly.

"That poor pizza guy was didn't know how to act," she laughed. "Damn, that was pretty much fun."

We ate an acceptable pizza and talked some more without getting any closer to anything which we thought was a good idea. Finally, Liz sighed and said, "I'm beat. Let's go to bed." I was pleased by the implication that we would not be sleeping in separate bedrooms as we had during our prior stay in the house.

Once we were in bed, Liz reached out and started stroking me. "I'm so tired," I said, "that I can't promise much performance."

"That's not exactly what I'm after," Liz responded. After she got me hard, she nudged me onto my back and mounted me. With me in her, Liz lay down on my chest. Very softly, she said, "I've heard of people doing this. Let's see if we can stay together all night." Where did she hear about that?

I don't usually sleep on my back, and I tend to toss and turn. Consequently, I was very surprised to wake up in exactly the same position in the morning. Of course, now I had to pee. I also had to wake Liz. It was about eight. Howley was due at the house for to debrief us at ten.

Liz and I didn't want Kate Howley, our Agency supervisor for this assignment, to know that we were going nude away from the resort or that we were sleeping together. We showered, together, dressed, and rumpled the bed in the other bedroom. Feeling pleased with ourselves, I ran out to a nearby Starbucks for Liz's mandatory coffee.

Kate Howley parked a car on the street in front of the house exactly at 10:00 a.m. Fortunately, she was carrying a large paper cup of coffee so I did not have to apologize for forgetting to get coffee for her too. We started the debriefing. We went straight through to 1:30 p.m.

Liz and I reported everything that had occurred at the resort, excepting our own sexual activity. Between us, I think that we gave Howley a complete and accurate account of the preceding week. The three of us discussed, and rejected, several ideas for digging deeper into Smith. Liz and I concluded the debrief by both expressing the opinion that there was nothing more to Smith and Lewis than met the eye and that we did not think that he was a drug dealer at all, much less a major dealer.

Howley listened attentively to our conclusions. She sighed and said, "I think that you are probably correct. However, the man at DOJ who thought this stunt up is still very enthusiastic about it. While you haven't found anything suggesting that Smith is a dealer, you don't have anything conclusive showing that he isn't a dealer either. I don't see any alternative to pushing on. How soon do you think that you can go back without making Smith or Lewis suspicious?"

"They invited us back as soon as we can come," Liz responded. "What if we go back a week from today? We can explain that Harry or I had some job leads that didn't pan out."

"Ok," Howley said, "if you don't think that is too soon." Howley looked at me. "Harry, could you please step out? I need to speak with Liz in private."

This did not surprise me. Given the unusual nature of the assignment, with Liz and me tasked to spending a lot of time nude together, the Agency had to satisfy itself that I wasn't sexually harassing Liz. I went out on the front porch, thinking that was where I was least likely to overhear. I had no concern at all about what Liz would say.

Howley came out of the house about a half hour later. She smiled at me. "You haven't gotten anything but I think that's because there isn't anything to get. You and Liz are doing well."

Howley took a step off of the porch towards her car, but she stopped and turned back to face me. "You probably don't know this, but, Liz's twenty-eighth birthday is Sunday."

I did not know that. I was surprised that Howley would mention it, but grateful. I thanked her sincerely.

After watching Howley drive off back to the airport, I went inside. Liz was undressing. "I like Howley," Liz said, "but, she really pressed to get dirt on you."

"I think that she was just doing her job," I said. "With this assignment, the Agency would look like real shit if it ever came out, or was even known in the Agency, that they didn't do everything reasonably possible to protect you."

"Maybe," Liz responded.

"Hey," I said, "I'm going out to get some groceries. I don't want pizza to be a habit. Do you want to come along?"

"I enjoyed the delivery," Liz laughed. "No, I don't want to get dressed. Besides, I need to write up notes." Normally, you write up your notes on an investigation as close to immediately after-the-fact as possible. We had not written notes while at the resort for fear that they might be found and blow our cover. We hadn't even taken laptops or tablets, only our I-phones. Not making notes immediately wasn't a big deal in this assignment because we were not trying to gather evidence to which we would have to testify in court. I was grateful that Liz didn't want to join me. I had some errands which I preferred that she not find out about right away.