Free Viper's Kiss by Shannon Curtis

hesitated before shifting back to the desk. “Has anyone else been here to see her?”
    The nurse shook her head. “No, the poor soul.” Her expression brightened as she remembered something. “But a nun from her local church called for her.”
    Luke nodded again. “Thanks.” He followed his colleagues. He’d bet another tour of duty that the nun was Maggie checking on her mom.
     
    Maggie inhaled on the cigarette and then coughed. Ugh, that’s disgusting. How do people do this? She grimaced, but drew the cigarette to her lips and inhaled again. The glowing end brightened.
    She placed the butt of the cigarette over the match box. She’d soaked the newspaper, in the ammonium nitrate solution, and had then wrung it and flapped it as dry as she could. It wasn’t totally dry, but she didn’t have all day. It would have to do.
    She stepped back and eyed her handiwork dubiously. The cigarette smoke curled through the air like a lazy phantom snake as it slowly burned down. When the flame reached the butt, it would ignite the remaining matches, which would hopefully ignite the almost dry newspaper with enough heat to get the desired chemical reaction going. There would be lots of smoke, but no flame. In theory . She didn’t want to actually cause damage, or worse, injury. She just needed to buy some time.
    She went to the door. All things going well, she’d be in and out of her mother’s hospital room without anyone being the wiser. She looked back at the newspaper. If not, well, she’d be back in custody within the hour. Either way, she had no clue what to do after that.
    She snagged the IV stand and dragged it with her as she exited the room, making sure the door closed behind her. She trundled along the hallway, taking her time.
    She tried to steady her breathing. Her heart beat like a kettle drum.
    Head low, just keep dawdling . She repeated the mantra in an effort to calm herself. She came to an intersection in the hallways and looked up at the signs. Room 621 was to the left. At the end of the hall a uniformed police officer sat on a chair, reading a newspaper. She glanced over her shoulder.
    Wispy white smoke was beginning to seep underneath the crack in the door of the supply room she’d just left. She would have punched the air in triumph if it wouldn’t blow her cover. And if Luke and his friends weren’t just leaving the nurses’ station. As she turned the corner, a small red box on the wall caught her eye. She limped toward it casually, head lowered. Her hand rose, lifted the flap and she pulled the alarm lever.
    Immediately she was rewarded with the strident clang of the fire alarm. People started running. Voices rose in confusion. Someone screamed. The smoke had been noticed.
    Maggie kept hobbling along the hallway, stepping aside to allow the police officer to pass her as he ran down the hall. Once he was beyond her, she let go of the IV stand and broke into a run to the room at the end of the hall.
     
    Luke, Drew and Noah stopped in their tracks at the sound of the alarm. A white cloud of smoke filled the hallway. Luke eyed his friends.
    “It’s her,” he muttered. They nodded in agreement.
    A police officer ran through the smoke, coughing as he shielded his mouth and nose.
    “I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to evacuate the building,” he rasped at them, his eyes watering.
    Luke shook his head. “No, we have to find someone,” he said.
    The cop shook his head and gestured to someone behind them. “Security!” He looked back at Luke. “Don’t worry, the staff will ensure the safety of the patients. Right now, though, you need to leave.”
    Two security officers approached them. The cop nodded. “Get these folks outta here. We have a fire.”
    “No, wait,” Luke ground out in frustration as the men tried to haul them back toward the stairs. Staff and able-bodied patients were being ushered toward the exit. He didn’t want to hurt these men, but neither did he want Viper to get