"Baumgartner claims it's not an Order facility. Just an inpatient medical facility where he has friends," Catcher said. Baumgartner was the head of the Order. From the sound of Catcher's voice, he wasn't buying Baumgartner's excuse.
"So what happened?" Ethan asked.
"She slept for a while, woke up, and started talking about her addiction. She seemed self-aware, remorseful, so they removed her restraints for a med exam."
"That's when she attacked the guard?" Ethan asked.
"Yeah. Turns out, she wasn't groggy. The guard's stil in the hospital, but I understand they're releasing him today."
"Where did she go?" I asked.
"Transit authority security cameras have a record of her," Catcher said. "She caught the El and then took the train to Aurora. She was spotted at a truck stop, catching a ride on an eighteen-wheeler headed to Des Moines. The trail ran cold in Iowa. She hasn't popped up again since."
Catcher had been the one to put a stop to Malory's familiar spel by knocking her out. Pity he hadn't knocked her out a little harder.
"So she's probably headed toward Nebraska," I guessed.
"But how did she know to go there? How did she know the Order would send the Maleficium there instead of to a new guardian?"
"Simon told her about the silo," Catcher said. "And he and Baumgartner visited and talked about the book being transported when she was supposedly asleep."
"That's two more strikes against Simon," I said.
"Yep," Catcher said. "He'd be out of the Order if Baumgartner wasn't afraid of him. Too much knowledge, too little common sense. If he's stil a member, Baumgartner stil has some authority."
"Tough position to be in," Ethan mused. "Any thoughts on our strategy?"
"First step is to get closer," he said. "You'l want to head toward Eliott, Nebraska. It's about five miles northwest of Omaha. The Order's archivist lives in a farmhouse outside the silo. I'l send directions."
"The archivist?" I asked.
"The recorder of Order history."
"And wil he be the only sorcerer guarding the book?" Ethan asked.
"Her name is Paige Martin. She's the only sorcerer at the farmstead; she's also the only sorceress in Nebraska. The Maleficium isn't always kept there. Since it travels, there's no need for a ful contingent. I've asked them to reconsider letting me go," Catcher quietly added. "I want to be there if things go bad. If worse comes to worst. But they're afraid I can't be objective."
We were al quiet for a moment, probably al imagining just how bad things might go, and the possibilities that we couldn't save Malory…or that she wouldn't want to be saved.
"But they'l alow this archivist to be there?" Ethan asked.
"She doesn't know Malory," Catcher said, "and she's part of the Order. They think she can handle herself."
And they probably thought they could handle her, too. Just like they could handle Simon, Malory, and Catcher, before he was kicked out. The Order had an awful track record for managing its employees.
"You'd think they could spare one or two more soldiers to stop a problem they created in the first place," Ethan mused.
"Unfortunately," Catcher said, "this isn't the world's only magical crisis, and there aren't many sorcerers to go around.
They're assigned as they're available."
I'd been taught as Sentinel to make do with what I had, but that didn't mean I had to like a bad set of odds, or the thought of similar crises around the world.
"We'l chart a course for Eliott," Ethan said. "Malory got a head start, so it seems unlikely we'l reach the book before she does. You might warn the archivist, if you haven't already."
"She knows. And there's something else." Catcher cleared his throat nervously. At the sound, Ethan shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"It's possible you and Malory aren't the only ones on the road. Seth Tate was released this morning."