Page 15 of Missing White Woman

He smiled at me now. “I love that you’re staying.”

@ABrushWithBillie TikTok

526 Following 1.2M Followers 4.6M Likes

Billie Regan sits in front of the camera. Her hair is blond with pink highlights. It’s in a ponytail. Although her skin is clear, there’s a bit of redness. Telltale signs of long-gone acne. She’s perfectly lit, courtesy of an unseen ring light. Behind her is a gray wall where @ABrushWithBillie is spelled out in purple neon cursive lights. When she speaks, she has a hint of a Southern accent.

“Hey, Billie Bunch. I’m Billie Regan. This is my channel. Normally I do makeup, but the past few videos have been much-needed updates on Janelle Beckett, one of my followers in Jersey City who’s been missing since Monday.”

Behind her, a screenshot of a comment pops up from JayJay4321: Gives a new meaning to red, white, and blue. You look great, Billie! Subscribing.

The screen changes to another comment from JayJay4321: Today’s #MakeupMonday got me wanting to hit up my ex.

It’s quickly replaced with another comment from JayJay4321: Cookie!! He’s adorable.

Then we’re back to Billie for a moment as she speaks. “Many of you have been asking for a timeline of what’s going on. I’m going to share with hopes that maybe someone saw her somewhere.”

The screen flashes to an Instagram photo of Janelle Beckett kissing a doggie. “If you’ve been following my channel, you know that Janelle is a very popular dog walker in Jersey City. It’s not a job for her. It’s a seven-days-a-week passion. And we know that she did show up for work Monday morning. I’ve personally confirmed this with some of her clients. She had several in various areas of Jersey City—she was that popular—but Monday morning she was around Little Street in the Paulus Hook area.”

The screen does a quick cut while Billie’s background changes to another screenshot. An Instagram post of Janelle in her usual space buns pretending to eat chocolate cake.

“This is Janelle’s last Instagram post. It’s from Monday.” Billie points to the top of the screen, where the location is listed. “Though we don’t know the time she posted, we have an idea. You can see she tagged a place called Bunz—that’s with a z. This is in Jersey City, about ten minutes from Janelle’s apartment.”

Another quick cut to an Instagram comment section. Billie points to one as she talks. “An employee commented on Janelle’s photo that they were the one who waited on her. She was alone, friendly, and left a tip.” Billie smiles at that.

“This was around one. From there, we believe Janelle hit her afternoon dog route and then went back home. If she stopped anywhere before doing so, we don’t know yet. As I’ve previously shared, she normally shows up to my Makeup Monday Live chats, where I give both relationship and makeup advice, but that time she didn’t make it. I knew something was wrong then but didn’t want to say anything because she’s always there. Always. She texted with one of her clients at 8:45 p.m., asking if she’d left her wallet. When the client responded she hadn’t, Janelle never wrote back. Furthermore, she never showed up to work the next morning. She was supposed to be back in Paulus Hook.”

Billie cuts to another Instagram account, this one of a strawberry-blond white woman. The photo is Janelle’s Missing picture. Billie points to the caption, which is from Janelle’s friend, sharing the latest. “This is when folks began to get concerned. One of her clients went over to Janelle’s apartment to do a wellness check. As you can see from this caption, the landlord was not helpful. Even though the friend was insistent, the landlord wouldn’t let him in.”

The screenshot disappears and Billie is full screen again. “As I’ve said, no one knows where Janelle is. It’s been almost a week and no one’s heard from her. So if you saw Janelle at any of these locations or near these locations on Monday, please let us know. And if you’ve seen her since then, please DM me on Insta. Same exact handle. We need to find Janelle, so don’t forget to follow me. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear any updates.”

FIVE

I had a shitty night. I woke up in the middle of it to a full bladder and Ty no longer next to me. The blackout curtains made it impossible to know if it was day. So I used the clock on the wall.

It was 4:34 a.m.

I’d been asleep since before midnight—with Ty right next to me, but now he was gone. He had to be in the bathroom.

But the door was open.

Maybe he’d gone downstairs for a snack.

It was fine. I’d go get him, drag him back to bed.

Before I knew it, I was through the door, and it felt like I was stepping into space. The hallway was pitch-black. I had to remind myself this wasn’t some horror movie. This was an Airbnb in Jersey City. It wasn’t until I got to the third-floor landing that I saw even a hint of light. He was in the kitchen. I called out. “Babe?”

He didn’t answer, so I spoke again, louder this time so it carried down two flights. “Babe?” I went for the joke. “Is this about the Muddy Buddies? Because you’re the one who bought them.”

The light went out. I stopped short. There was the sound of steps, but he still didn’t speak.

“Come back to bed. I’ll make it worth it.”

I passed the open bathroom door and scratched my head. That’s when I realized I’d forgotten to put on my bonnet and now I was paying for it. My curls on the back of my head were flatter than a piece of paper, while the ones in the front jutted out every which way. I tried to fluff up the back and smooth down the front, but it was useless. They had a mind of their own. Usually I appreciated that. But not now, when I was trying to entice my boyfriend.

I didn’t have to see myself to know that I wasn’t a pretty sight. At all.

I went up instead of down, where I went hard with the curl refresher and lip gloss. Then I got in the bed. Ready.

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