“Because I brought you cookies,” Hannah answered. “They’re some of my best, Pecan Chews. You’re going to love them.”

Judith laughed. She seemed to think that Hannah’s comment was funny. Maybe it was, but it was difficult for Hannah to see the humor past the gun barrel right now.

“Come on, Judith,” Hannah tried again. “What harm can it do to tell me? You were smart to get the gun. I just want to know when you realized that you needed it.”

“I had the gun when I came back with the plane tickets. It was under my shawl.”

Hannah sighed. She should have noticed that Judith’s silk shawl didn’t complement the dress she was wearing. If she’d been thinking straight, she would have realized that something was up. “You were planning to shoot me then?”

“Not then. I brought the gun as a precaution, but I hoped that I wouldn’t have to use it. Unfortunately you forced my hand by mentioning the loan.”

“Me and my big mouth,” Hannah blurted out. Then she sighed. “If I hadn’t said anything about the loan, you would have let me leave?”

“Yes. But you did say something, and now it’s too late.”

Hannah thought of another question as fast as she could. “I know about some of Max’s other loans and how he forced people to sign over their property as collateral. Is that what he did to you?”

“Yes. DelRay suffered a setback and when Del needed more capital, he signed over my home. He was a fool to do it. I advised him against it, but he wouldn’t listen. Del was never very bright.”

The gun barrel wavered slightly and Hannah wondered if she should make a grab for it. In one of the detective shows she’d watched, the main character had jammed his finger somewhere or other to keep the gun from firing. But that gun hadn’t looked like the one that Judith held. If she got out of this alive, she was going to find out everything she could about guns and how they operated.

“You’re very quiet, Hannah.” Judith’s lips twisted up in a parody of a smile. “Aren’t you going to ask me any more questions?”

Hannah shook off all thoughts that weren’t useful and latched on to another question. It was good that Judith wanted to talk about Max and what she’d done to him. “Why didn’t Del get a loan from the bank? It would have been a lot safer than going to Max.”

“The bank refused him. They said that he was overextended and they were right. I advised Del to close the doors, but all he could think about was how it would affect his work force. Those people would have found other jobs. And even if they hadn’t, it wouldn’t have mattered to me!”

Hannah tried not to let her emotions show. Judith was totally self-centered. Her only concern was for her home, not for the hundreds of Lake Eden workers who would have lost their jobs. “I assume that Max called in Del’s loan and that’s why you felt you had to…to act.”