P R I M A R Y V A L O R (THE FORGING OF LUKE STONE—BOOK 5) J A C K M A R S Jack Mars Jack Mars is the USA Today bestsellingauthor of the LUKE STONE thriller series, which includes seven books. He isalso the author of the new FORGING OF LUKE STONE prequel series, comprising sixbooks; and of the AGENT ZERO spy thriller series, comprising twelve books. ANYMEANS NECESSARY (a Luke Stone Thriller—Book #1) and AGENTZERO (An Agent Zero Spy Thriller—Book #1) are both available as free downloadson Amazon! Jack loves to hear from you, so pleasefeel free to visit www.Jackmarsauthor.com to join the email list, receive a free book, receive freegiveaways, connect on Facebook and Twitter, and stay in touch! Copyright © 2021 by JackMars. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmittedin any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system,without the prior permission of the author. This ebook is licensed for yourpersonal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to otherpeople. If you would like to share this book with another person, pleasepurchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book anddid not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then pleasereturn it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work ofthis author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses,organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of theauthor’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actualpersons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Jacket image Copyright Getmilitaryphotos, used under license fromShutterstock.com. BOOKS BY JACK MARS LUKE STONE THRILLERSERIES ANY MEANS NECESSARY (Book#1) OATH OF OFFICE (Book #2) SITUATION ROOM (Book #3) OPPOSE ANY FOE (Book #4) PRESIDENT ELECT (Book #5) OUR SACRED HONOR (Book #6) HOUSE DIVIDED (Book #7) FORGING OF LUKE STONEPREQUEL SERIES PRIMARY TARGET (Book #1) PRIMARY COMMAND (Book #2) PRIMARY THREAT (Book #3) PRIMARY GLORY (Book #4) PRIMARY VALOR (Book #5) PRIMARY DUTY (Book #6) AN AGENT ZERO SPYTHRILLER SERIES AGENT ZERO (Book #1) TARGET ZERO (Book #2) HUNTING ZERO (Book #3) TRAPPING ZERO (Book #4) FILE ZERO (Book #5) RECALL ZERO (Book #6) ASSASSIN ZERO (Book #7) DECOY ZERO (Book #8) CHASING ZERO (Book #9) VENGEANCE ZERO (Book #10) ZERO ZERO (Book #11) ABSOLUTE ZERO (Book #12) CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTERELEVEN CHAPTERTWELVE CHAPTERTHIRTEEN CHAPTERFOURTEEN CHAPTERFIFTEEN CHAPTERSIXTEEN CHAPTERSEVENTEEN CHAPTEREIGHTEEN CHAPTERNINETEEN CHAPTERTWENTY CHAPTERTWENTY ONE CHAPTERTWENTY TWO CHAPTERTWENTY THREE CHAPTERTWENTY FOUR CHAPTERTWENTY FIVE CHAPTERTWENTY SIX CHAPTERTWENTY SEVEN CHAPTERTWENTY EIGHT CHAPTERTWENTY NINE CHAPTERTHIRTY CHAPTERTHIRTY ONE CHAPTERTHIRTY TWO CHAPTERTHIRTY THREE CHAPTERTHIRTY FOUR CHAPTER THIRTYFIVE CHAPTERTHIRTY SIX CHAPTERTHIRTY SEVEN CHAPTERTHIRTY EIGHT CHAPTERTHIRTY NINE CHAPTER FORTY CHAPTER FORTYONE CHAPTER FORTYTWO CHAPTER FORTYTHREE CHAPTER FORTYFOUR CHAPTER FORTYFIVE CHAPTER FORTYSIX CHAPTER FORTYSEVEN CHAPTER FORTYEIGHT CHAPTER ONE March 24, 2006 12:05 a.m. Eastern Standard Time Wrightsville Beach North Carolina Charlotte was drunk on the beach. She was sixteen years old, and shehad slipped out of her mom’s house to come to this party. It was clever, anddaring, the way she did it. It went like this: She had told her mom, and her mom’sboyfriend Jeff, that she was tired and was going to bed early. She said she hadan exam in the morning. Tomorrow was Friday, a school day. The test was inWorld History. It was a hard class. There was no test, of course. Her mom would be up and off towork early. Jeff was rich, didn’t seem to work at all and never got up beforenoon. When Charlotte left, the two of them were watching a movie in the TVroom, like they often did. Charlotte locked the knob on herbedroom door, then pulled it shut behind her as she entered the hall. She hadstashed a bookbag with her party clothes in the garage. She quietly slippedpast the TV room, into the laundry room, then out into the silent three-cargarage. If they happened to catch her, she was dressed in sweatpants and a HelloKitty T-shirt—she was going to bed, but had wandered down to the laundry roomto look for some socks she was missing. And wouldn’t you know it? She hadlocked herself out of her bedroom! But it didn’t come to that. Instead,she moved through the garage. Mom’s white Volvo was there. Jeff’sBMW convertible and his classic old Hudson from the 1940s were there. Jeff wentcrazy if someone touched that car. He drove it like once a year to show off. Charlotte picked up her bag andwent to the side door of the garage. Her heart skipped a beat. She had pulledthis off a few times before, but she was still nervous. There was a stonewalkway out there, flanked by bushes and leading around to the front of thehouse. Her mom never set the house alarm until she was going to bed. A lot oftimes she forgot to set it at all. Charlotte took a deep breath, wentthrough the door, closed it carefully behind her, and she was outside thehouse. Her friend Taylor was waiting for her three blocks away. The party wasat Taylor’s house on the beach. Taylor was eighteen, and had graduated lastyear. Taylor’s parents were away in the Bahamas. Taylor would drop Charlotte off atschool tomorrow morning like none of this had ever happened. When Charlotte gothome in the afternoon, she would tell Jeff she accidentally locked herself outof her room again, and he would open the lock with a screwdriver. Charlotte wasa little spacey like that—she locked herself out of her room sometimes. Now, on the beach, she breathedthe cool night air. Rob was a little bit ahead of her,laughing and shouting about something. The waves were crashing, drowning outwhat he was saying. There must be a storm at sea, the waves were so big. Behind them, what seemed like allthe lights were on at Taylor’s mansion. The pool area was lit up. There wereonly about ten kids at the party—it was a school night, after all—but Taylorliked to do things big. The music was booming. Charlotte could no longer makeout the songs, but she could still hear the rumble of the bass. Her head was spinning withsensations. Two vodka tonics. Taylor poured them heavy. The cold air—the chillwas reaching her now. She had just climbed out of the hot tub, and was wearingonly a bikini with a plush towel wrapped around her. The freedom of being out,the freedom of having a friend
