Caught in the Storm

The night air was sharp, the cold biting at Mercedes' bare feet as an officer led her outside into the falling snow. The world around her felt distant and unreal--harsh fluorescent lights reflecting off icy sidewalks, the low hum of police radios, and murmurs of guarded voices in the background. She didn't understand how she had ended up here, handcuffed and vulnerable, stripped of everything fami...