XITHE CRASH BROUGHT GEN. Leslie Bowers (ret.) up out of bed—about two feet out of bed—old muscles tense, white mustache bristling.
Even at his age, the general was a man of action. He flipped the covers back, swung his feet out to the floor and grabbed the shotgun leaning against the wall.
Muttering, he blundered out of the bedroom, marched across the dining room and charged into the kitchen. There, beside the door, he snapped on the switch that turned on the floodlights. He practically took the door off its hinges getting to the stoop and he stood there, bare feet gripping the planks, nightshirt billowing in the wind, the shotgun poised and ready.
“What’s going on out there?” he bellowed.
There was a tremendous pile of rocks resting where he’d parked his car. One crumpled fender and a
