Leopard, p.1
Leopard, page 1
Leopard
The Next Generation
Book Three
Iris Bolling
Contents
Dear Reader
Prologue
Part I
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Part II
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Epilogue
About the Author
FOLLOW ME
Also by Iris Bolling
LEOPARD: The Next Generation © 2026 by Iris Bolling
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, locales is entirely coincidental.
Published by:
Siri Austin Entertainment LLC
Richmond, Virginia 23222
Website: www.siriaustin.com
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ISBN: 979-8-9868244-9-9
Library of Congress Control Number:
Dear Reader
Dear Readers;
Leopard is being written during a crazy ice storm in Virginia. Yes, we are used to snow, however, this was snow, ice, wind, and damn right cold weather. To say Calvin and Leslie warmed up my life would be an understatement. Keep that in mind as you venture into the world of Calvin Johnson Jr. also known as Hammer and Leopard in The Next Generation. Yes, Calvin is so intense he needed two personas. There are times throughout the story that he is referred to by each persona; that is intentional.
In Leopard, book 3 of The Next Generation, the saga continues with friends, James, Elliott, Calvin, and JC. We know that James and ZsaZsa have found their happy ever after, Elliott and Calley are blissful, leaving Calvin and JC to find the love of their lives.
Calvin is working with the CIA under his mentor Adam Lassiter. With his first solo assignment he wants to impress his boss. However his cavalier manners intercedes on a damsel in distress and all his hopes of excelling on this mission comes to a halt as the god-daughter of Vice President Phoenix Lacey, Leslie Carrington, enters his line of sight.
Leslie is a genius. A true intellectual force. Unfortunately, her common sense doesn’t always keep pace with her intelligence. She’s stubborn, fearless, and incredibly resourceful—traits that only heighten her allure for a man whose mind is as sharp as his instincts. To Calvin, she’s a puzzle, a temptation, and a distraction all rolled into one irresistible package.
Being the gentleman he is, Calvin saves her life—only to find himself pulled into a dangerous chain of events that collides headfirst with his mission. And what makes it worse? He can’t get her out of his thoughts. He wasn’t looking for love. He didn’t plan for it. But deep down, Calvin recognizes something undeniable: Leslie is the woman who makes him want to reach beyond the stars and claim the impossible. This journey into The Next Generation is different from the others, however, it will leave you in love with this stargazing couple.
I am so ready for the many discussions we will have on Calvin and Leslie. I am sure some of you are going to ask for Calvin Sr. and Jackie’s story after this.
Sit back, grab you a snack and a drink then dive into Leopard: The Next Generation.
Until the next time,
Iris
Prologue
The Pact
Elliott Thompson and JC Harrison sat in the window seat in JC’s room while their parents celebrated downstairs. Their feet were hanging over the edge with Elliott's extended further than JC's and a bowl of M&Ms between them, both reaching in and popping a few in their mouths.
"You know what?" Elliott said to the little boy sitting next to him.
“What?" JC replied excitedly, ready to hear anything his new best friend had to say.
"Because you are littler than me, I have to protect you like my daddy do your daddy."
"Okay. Why?"
"That's just how things go. But you know what else?"
"No, what?"
"You gonna be president one day too. You know why?"
JC shook his head. “No.”
"’Cause you are smart like your mommy and people like you like your daddy. That's what my daddy says."
"You going to be big and strong like Uncle Brian."
"Yep, see." He held up his arm to let JC feel his biceps.
"Wow!" JC said as he felt his friend’s muscle. "You gonna stop the boys from calling me a mommy's boy at school?"
"No, that's not a bad thing. I'm a mommy's boy too."
"But I want to be a big boy like the other boys at school.”
“But you're not like anybody else, that's what my mommy says. There is only one you. God made us like we are, and he don't make mistakes.”
"My daddy says that too." JC nodded. "You really think I can be president like my daddy is going to be?"
"Yep." Elliott nodded in agreement.
"Elliott, what's a president supposed to do?"
Elliott thought for a minute, then put his arm around JC's shoulders and said, "I don't know. But we'll figure it out together."
JC reached up and put his arm over Elliott's shoulder. "Okay, cause that's what friends do, right?"
"Right, friends figure out things together."
James Jr. and Little Calvin came over and joined the two friends. "What you doing?" James Jr. asked as he grabbed a few M&Ms and put them in his mouth.
"Talking about being friends," Elliott replied.
"Will your mommy let you be our friend too?" JC asked.
"I don't know, maybe. But my daddy will," James Jr. replied.
“I thought we were already friends," Little Calvin said as he took a seat next to JC.
"We are," JC said to his kindergarten schoolmate. “Now we have big friends and nobody at school will mess with us."
"That's right," James Jr. said as he sat next to Elliott. "’Cause we won't let them."
"Are you going to be around always?" Little Calvin asked.
Elliott put his hand out palm down. "Friends forever.”
James Jr. put his hand on top of Elliott's. "Friends forever."
Little Calvin smiled and placed his hand on top of James Jr.’s "Friends forever."
JC stood and put his hand on the top. "Through thick and thin, friends forever."
The boys all smiled, then took a seat and continued eating the M&Ms. "What do friends do?" JC asked.
Elliott shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know, but we'll figure it out.”
Part I
Chapter 1
Washington, DC is a city comprised of a variety of distinct areas. It is well known for its diversity. There are the monuments that grace the skyline with poise and are rich with history; the commanding buildings that are at the seat of the government, where the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the White House abode. Then you have areas with beautiful homes in nice safe neighborhoods; yet there are some places that are not safe for man nor beast.
From his vantage point, perched on the rooftop of a twelve-story apartment building, the operative known as Hammer, could view all aspects of the complex city. The sounds of traffic below, music playing in the distance, and quiet alleyways behind buildings had his senses on alert. In the shadows of the heating and air systems, his presence was undetectable, giving him a clear view of the entrance to a private club in a remote section of Washington.
His mission was two-fold tonight. Test the prototypes, and keep tabs on the targets of an investigation. Three men had entered the establishment earlier that evening. It was now well past 2 a.m. and not one of them left the building. Congressman Edward Ackerson, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Justice Patrick Cunningham, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and Arnold Vance, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, were all powerful men individu ally, and damn near indestructible if they joined forces. The recent death of Senator Jason Rolfeman, Chairman of the Intelligence Committee provided evidence that all four of the most powerful men in the current administration had indeed conspired to overthrow the government. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, FISC, granted surveillance on Vance, not Cunningham or Ackerson. However, all three were in attendance for this meeting and therefore considered fair game for the recordings. A fourth individual entered the meeting but was unidentified. The flow of the conversation seemed to indicate there was an internal struggle amongst the co-conspirators, now that Rolfeman, who was considered the mastermind behind the conspiracy, was dead.
This was where Hammer's technical skillset was needed. From the rooftop, using a midsize laptop he was able to triangulate his equipment to gather satellite visual and audio surveillance on the meeting taking place inside a building that was a block away from his location. As he was sitting in the shadows gathering intelligence a sound pierced the quiet of the area. He glanced over the rooftop to see a light from the back exit point appear. Moving closer to the edge of the rooftop he noticed a man leaving the building. It wasn’t one of the men he was surveilling, it was the unidentified visitor. He noted the information on his laptop including the time and location of the action. He was about to ease back into his position when he picked up on another person shadowing the man. The person appeared to look in both directions then stepped out of the darkness into the light. The person pulled the collar of their coat up around their ears and pulled their hat down low, an obvious sign that they were attempting to avoid facial recognition. That intrigued Hammer. The man had a shadow that did not want to be identified.
“Well, sorry, Charlie. A man’s got to do what a man's got to do.”
Hammer proceeded to key in a few coordinates to adjust his equipment on the shadowy figure. Once the coordinates were set, he that noticed the man had made an evasive move by turning into an alleyway. Hammer glanced back determining the distance between the man and his shadow.
“He’s detected his tailer. This is getting interesting.” Hammer walked along the rooftop following the man’s movements below. His laptop beeped, indicating the identity of the shadow figure was complete. He turned back and cursed.
“Well damn, it's a woman,” he whispered somewhat surprised.
He turned back to the action below and noticed the man had just slipped into the doorway toward the end of the alley. Hammer looked back to see the shadow figure about to enter the alley. No way she could have seen the man slipping into the doorway at the other end. The man was setting a trap for her.
“Shit!” Hammer exclaimed as he secured his laptop, threw the strap of the case over his shoulder, then hurried to the fire escape ladder.
Leslie Ann Carrington had only one thing on her mind. The man she was following could have information regarding the death of her parents. For five years she had been spending every free hour investigating the so-called accident. A month ago, she discovered a code in one of the programs her mother had developed for a think tank group called DiscoveryU. She had tracked the source of that code to a group of men. She had been trailing one of them for over a month now. Tonight, he had led her to yet another link. He'd met with several other men, two of whom she recognized as high level political figures. One she knew for a fact was connected to her mother’s past. That was not a coincidence. This could be the lead she had been waiting for.
She glanced at the door at the back of a building praying she had not missed his exit. The door opened. She eased back into the darkness, hoping the shadow from the building would conceal her presence. She watched as the man glanced around. It was the wee hours of the morning, with very little activity happening around them, yet, the area wasn’t completely vacant. Every now and then, a person turned the corner or entered a building. Nothing she considered to be dangerous, however, just to be safe, she reached into her pocket and turned on the record function of her phone.
The man began walking in her direction. As he strolled by without so much as a glance her way, she exhaled the breath she was holding, relieved that he had not seen her. Using one of the techniques she had read about, Leslie counted to ten before easing out of her position. Pulling up the collar of her black trench coat, then adjusting the hat on her head, she followed the man down the street. Her research on surveillance had suggested using everyday objects to assist in the surveillance. Looking ahead, using the windows of the store fronts across the street to follow the man’s movements allowed her to keep a good distance from him. When she saw him turn down an alley, she hurried forward but stopped before looking down the alleyway. She saw him turn to the left at the end of the alley. Not wanting to lose him, she hurried down the alley but stopped again before looking around the corner of the building. She peeped around and saw his back. She counted to ten then headed his way.
“Damn,” she exclaimed when she did not see him. “Did he get to the other end of the alley that quick?”
She was speed walking, hoping not to lose the man, but she did not want to appear to be running in case someone was watching. The neighborhood wasn’t bad, but it was the kind of hood that when one person starts running everyone joins in. She had just reached the middle of the alley when a hand reached out and grabbed her. The man pushed her up against the back of the building and put his hands around her throat.
“Why are you following me?”
Leslie was too shocked to answer the man. His hands tightened around her throat, literally lifting her body from the ground. All the self-defense lessons were escaping her mind while her hands were frantically trying to pry the man’s fingers from around her throat. She couldn't scream, hell, she was barely breathing. He was too strong, and his thumb was cutting off her windpipe. Her vision was becoming blurry, her throat was burning, and her chest was heaving for air. The more she attempted to fight the man off, the harder it was to breathe. Eyes wide open, she saw a man jumping from the building across from them.
Suddenly, the pressure was gone and her body fell to the ground. As she was desperately gasping, struggling to finally get some air into her lungs, she saw a figure in all black with a hoodie covering his face, knocking the hell out of her attacker. She was trying to yell not to kill him, but nothing came out. Then she heard a blow that had to have broken several bones in the man’s face, if it had not indeed killed him.
The figure in the hoodie ran towards her, grabbed her by the arm and literally half carried, half dragged her from the area. He was moving so fast, she did not remember her feet ever touching the ground. Suddenly he stopped and pushed her into the alcove of a building, covering her body with his. She started to speak, but he put his hand over her mouth, then pushed both of their bodies further into the darkness.
Chapter 2
There was a jolt when their bodies met. He must have felt it too. She could feel his body tense against her. All she could see was his eyes. What she saw caused a warm surge to rush through her veins. It had to be the adrenaline from all that was happening around them, she thought as he adjusted his body. It wasn’t clear if she should be just as afraid of him as she was of the man who had attacked her. He looked just as dangerous, dressed in all black and doing all he could to hide his face. Then she felt his chest rising and falling against hers, taking slower breaths, as if trying to control his breathing, almost willing it to slow down. She wished she could do that. At the moment, she was catching hell attempting to grab gasps of air between his fingers.
