The Trapped Girl (Tracy Crosswhite #4)(58)

“He was abusing Andrea,” Orr said. “It came out in her counseling. He denied it, said she’d made it up, that she lived in a fantasy world.”

“What did the counselor say?”

“It was his opinion Andrea was telling the truth. The allegation required that he contact Child Protective Services. They removed Andrea from our home. I moved out because it was quicker than waiting for the divorce to become final, and found a place on my own, a small townhome. Andrea had been sent to another home until, eventually, she came back to live with me.”

“Did you determine the truth?” Tracy asked.

“Andrea was telling the truth.”

“I’m sorry. Did you become Andrea’s legal guardian?”

“Yes. My sister and brother-in-law had it in their will and the probate court had a hearing and the judge appointed me.”

“So you could authorize the release of Andrea’s counseling records?”

“I could,” Orr said. “But why would you need them?”

“We’re exploring every potential reason why Andrea walked off that mountain, trying to understand what happened. The records might help. How was she, psychologically, when she came back to live with you?”

“Worse,” Orr said. “She became very withdrawn, very nervous. She’d pick at her skin and compulsively bite her fingernails, sometimes until they bled. She also read constantly, everything she could get her hands on.”

“Novels?” Tracy asked. “Any specific genre?”

“No, just everything and anything. Westerns, romance, sci-fi, fantasy, mysteries, detective novels. Everything. I would take boxes of paperbacks to the used bookstore every month and trade them in for another stack.”

“What did her counselor have to say about Andrea reading so much?”

“He said Andrea had withdrawn from the real world because the real world was too painful. He said books offered her comfort.”

“Did she make much progress?”

“In counseling? Some, but she left San Bernardino when she turned eighteen. I came home from work one day and she was gone. She left a note thanking me and saying she needed a change of scenery.”

“She didn’t tell you she was leaving?”

Orr shook her head. “I understood,” she said softly. “Andrea needed to make a life for herself, whatever that was going to be. She needed to get away from here, away from the memories. I understood that.”

“Did she tell you where she was going?”

“She said she wanted to live in Portland or Seattle because it rained all the time and she could read. She said she would contact me when she’d settled.”

“Did you speak to her after she left?”

“Yes. She kept her word, said she’d settled in Portland, and assured me she was fine. She called a couple of times after that, but not too much.” Orr paused. “I really tried to do what was right for Andrea, and for my sister.”

“I’m sure you did.”

“When I found out my husband had been abusing her, I felt like I’d failed them both. I guess Andrea was just too emotionally scarred, and living here reminded her of those scars. I was part of those bad memories. I just think she needed to get away.”

“I’m sure you did your best,” Tracy said.

“I tried,” Orr said.

“Did Andrea gain control of her trust fund when she turned eighteen?”

“No. At twenty-one she got say over the use of the interest. My sister and brother-in-law originally set it up to pay for Andrea’s college. When they died, the rest of their estate rolled into that trust, but it had restrictions. It could only be used for Andrea’s well-being.”

“Were you the trustee?”

“No, there was a professional trustee. It was very complicated. When she lived with me, I had the trustee roll the interest back into the trust. I never touched a dime. I wanted that to be hers, something good that came out of such a tragedy. Do you know what happened to it?”

“That’s one of the things we’re trying to find out. It appears Andrea was in the process of hiding it.”

“From who?”

“We think her husband. We think that was one source of tension in their marriage. Apparently, he wanted to use the trust to pay off his business debts and Andrea had refused.”

“The trust wouldn’t allow that,” Orr said.

“I think that was the reason for the tension.”

“So you think he might have killed her to try to get control of the money?”

“We don’t know,” Tracy said. She changed the subject. “Penny, have you ever heard the name Lynn Hoff?”

Orr’s face scrunched in thought. “I don’t think so. Who is she?”

“It appears to be the alias Andrea was using when she was in hiding. Sometimes people will use a name familiar to them, maybe a childhood friend who died, or a relative.”

“No,” Orr said. “It isn’t familiar. Maybe a character from a book?”

“Maybe. Did Andrea have any close friends when she lived here—high school friends?”

Orr shook her head. “Not really.” She shrugged. “At least no one that I’m aware of. She didn’t like school. Andrea wasn’t dumb. Don’t misinterpret what I’m saying. She had her father’s intellect, and she was curious about things. I think that’s why she liked to read all the time. She retained everything she read on a subject. At the parent-teacher conferences, the teachers would all say the same thing. Andrea was extremely bright, off the charts in some areas, but she didn’t apply herself.” Orr shrugged again. “What was I supposed to do, punish her?” She wiped her tears and made a face as if the thought were ridiculous. “She’d been punished enough.”