For a moment, Bobby’s heart stopped.
Standing beside his mom, half-shadowed by the hallway light, was a woman. Shoulder-length dark hair tucked behind one ear, wearing a soft gray sweater and jeans. She looked perfectly ordinary—the type that can't arouse strong suspicion.
Except Bobby knew that face.
Lyra Mallis.
It was undeniably her.
---
His breath caught painfully in his chest. His vision narrowed to a tunnel—her face and nothing else. The same woman who’d stood among the Loopers, who’d held a gun in shaking hands and whispered “You’re not a monster, Bobby. But Bob is.”
And now she stood in his living room. Smiling politely—deception at its finest.
Bobby's mind remained alarmed. He felt scared. Worried. Troubled.
---
“Bobby?” his mom prompted, her voice oddly cheerful. “This
