Chapter 253 Tessa

• The morning sun did not rise so much as it interrogated the room, bleeding through the floor to ceiling glass until the walnut panels glowed a deep, bloody red. Tessa had not slept. She had spent the night pacing the perimeter of her prison, counting the seconds between the soft hums of the climate control system. By the time the door clicked open at eight, she was sitting in the armchair, fully dressed in a stiff cream sweater and trousers she had found in the wardrobe. She looked like a woman ready for a board meeting, even if she was a prisoner of war.
• Roy walked in carrying a silver tray. He looked infuriatingly well rested. "You didn't touch the bed," he observed, setting the tray on the low table. "I hope you aren't planning a hunger strike. It is a very cliché way to protest a kidnapping."
• "I am not hungry for anything you have to offer, Roy," Tessa said. She didn't look at the coffee, despite the caffeine withdrawal screaming at the base of her skull. "What is the schedule? Do I get an hour in the yard to exercise? Or do we skip straight to the interrogation?"