“That was his excuse,” Neal murmurs. Something is clicking. He doesn’t like it. “That was his excuse. You said the Flynns didn’t own the police, that it was the other way around.”

He gives James a sharp look. “Someone still owns them. Someone Ellen knew about, hid evidence about. That has to be it. Someone owns Flynn and sent him after Ellen because he had a reason, albeit a flimsy one, to want revenge. But whoever it was had access to federal witness protection records.”

Neal can’t breathe. “Someone on our side sold her out.”

It doesn’t occur to him that he just said said our side.

It very clearly caught James’ attention. He scowls.