Chapter 3

I knew I needed a car but it could wait at least a day while I dealt with my problems. David's body suffered severe trauma, and was healed by the universe for some reason. He shouldn't have lived through having a bridge collapse on his parent's car.

He did.

But only his body - David was gone, just like the others.

The facts about David couldn't be more convenient. That had to be proof that the universe was directing things.

His family is dead, so there are no worries about pretending lost memory.

They left their home back east and were headed to a new life out west. From what I could gather from David's phone and suitcase, there was nobody he was worried about communicating with back home.

There is plenty of money to tide me over as I get my feet on the ground as David Walsh, eighteen years old and suddenly family-less. The whole set up was far too convenient to be believable, so I doubted I would be in this body long. Even though I can't say why, I just felt like my time as David was limited.

I was tired and needed to rest before facing the rest of my challenges.

Without thinking about it, I had decided to forego communicating with my family in Branson. The rejection in my last life was too fresh, too raw, and too painful to relive. I had five-hundred million dollars in a special account that I could access, but that would alert Colleen, and I didn't want to go down that road again, right now.

However, there was well over one-hundred and fifty million in my Swiss account, and I needed to access it and change the codes and passwords. That could insure my future while the universe used me for whatever it brought me here to do. Interest alone on that account was a little over eight-hundred thousand dollars a month, so I had plenty of money to take care of my needs.

No matter what came after each of my lives, living them took so much out of me that I felt exhausted just thinking about how to start all over again, in a strange body.

Instead of letting it get to me I slept.

It was much later that hunger and my bladder forced me to deal with my new surroundings and uncertain present. Taking care of the first two was child's play, and thinking about the third one was more than I could tackle all at once, so after eating a hearty supper, I slept the rest of the night without dreams.

The morning brought a new energy that got me moving far earlier than I had intended. I needed a car, and to take care of that, I needed funds. The iPad and iPhone six were charged, loaded, and ready to go, so I took care of updating my accounts in Switzerland. Then I called a cab to take me to the airport, where I chartered a plane to Denver to go Lexus shopping.

Stevenson Lexus, of Lakewood, Colorado had exactly what I wanted, a brand new LX-570 SUV, with full time four wheel drive and all the toys. It was exactly like the one I bought in Branson, except newer, with more interesting options installed. I purchased a full coverage, automobile insurance plan from an agency that the salesman suggested, and late in the afternoon I drove away quite happy

Even with the state of the art GPS built in to the Lexus, it took well over six hours to drive back to Durango, where I could pick up all of David's things and get another good night's sleep. I had an appointment to sign papers at the lawyer the next morning at eleven, and nothing pushing me other than living through another day.

Getting ready for bed, I had a chance to study my new body. David was average in so many ways. He was five-foot ten and about one-hundred and seventy pounds. His build was nowhere near chiseled, nor was he a slug. I'd say he was average in his exercise habits, average in his wardrobe, and average looking. There was almost nothing to call him out in a crowd, which meant I could fly under the radar for as long as necessary - or until the universe chooses otherwise.

David was properly equipped, however, and some lucky women were missing out on something special there, so you win some, you lose some. Thinking about the equipment got me thinking about Colleen, and before long, I was suffering a severe case of missing her.

Wishing wasn't going to get anything accomplished, and I purposefully stopped thinking about her so I could fall asleep. That took about thirty minutes. My second night as David brought the dreams. They were awful, but mercifully, I forgot them all as soon as I awakened.

The morning dawned bright and sunny, promising to be a lovely day. I leapt from the bed, hurried to wash up and dress, and threw everything in the Lexus, preparing to get the heck out of this town as soon as I finished with the lawyer.

He didn't let me down.

Ernie Wright was a cherub!

He couldn't have stood taller than five-foot one, and if you soaked him in molasses, he probably weighed all of one-twenty. When he met me in his waiting room to take me back to his office, I thought I was at an audition for Santa's Elves. Ernie's eyes twinkled when he smiled and glittered when he laughed. I couldn't stop watching his facial expressions. Juries must have been a lay down for Ernie Wright, because no one would want to disappoint him and miss out on one of his smiles.