She Heard a Stranger's Name Outside a Convenience Store

CHAPTER 1 - THE NAME ON A COLD MORNING

"Stop!"

The boy in the red baseball jacket froze with the paper cup still in his hand. Most of the chocolate milk had already splashed across the small boy's gray hoodie. The rest dripped from his chin and soaked the faded green backpack clutched against his chest.

"Noboby wants you, weirdo," the second boy said, laughing.

Evelyn hurried forward, her boots striking the wet sidewalk. She caught Hazel by the arm before her daughter could lunge again.

"Hazel, stay out of it," she said under her breath.

The two older boys looked up, saw an adult, and backed away fast. In seconds they were gone, cutting across the parking lot without once looking back.

Under the little covered patch by the red brick wall, the boy sat curled on old cardboard. He couldn't have been more than seven. Red-brown curls stuck damply to his forehead. Freckles dusted the bridge of his nose. His white sneakers had split at the sides.

Hazel ignored her mother's grip. She crouched and pulled tissues from her pocket.

"Here," she said softly.

The boy took them with stiff fingers. He wiped his chin, then tugged his wet collar away from his skin. A copper oval pendant slipped free on a thin chain.

Evelyn's breath caught.

The street noise seemed to drop away.

She bent closer before she could stop herself. "Who gave you that?"

At once the boy grabbed the pendant in his fist and shrank back toward the wall.

"My mom," he whispered. "Since I was little."

Evelyn looked from the locket to his face. The shape of his eyes. The freckles. Something old and terrible moved inside her.

Her hand loosened on Hazel's sleeve.

"Oliver?" she said, her voice breaking.

The boy stared at her, confused and wary.

"How do you know my name?"

Evelyn sank down to his level, tears already rising.

Because eleven years ago, her sister Leah had vanished with a three-week-old baby boy named Oliver.

And Evelyn had been told they were both dead..l

Hazel turned sharply toward her mother as the convenience store door opened behind them and the clerk shouted, "Ma'am, is this the kid Child Services has been looking for since last night?"