At the corner stood two men. Their stares pierced through me and the girl. Black jackets, hands in their pockets, and faces full of tension.

In that instant, it was crystal clear: this was a carefully planned trap.

The girl — the bait. Anyone who showed compassion and tried to take her “to her parents” — would fall straight into the kidnappers’ hands. A cold-blooded scenario, calculated on the kindness of strangers.

Rex growled louder and louder, as if sensing the threat. I pretended not to notice anything, reached out my hand to the girl, but at the same time pressed the emergency button on my radio.

The men at the corner began to grow nervous, exchanging glances. One stepped forward.

Within minutes, a patrol car arrived. The siren shattered the silence, and the suspicious “observers” ran off.

They were caught just a block away. The girl was taken to the station — and there it turned out she had long been listed as missing.

This story could have ended in tragedy, but thanks to Rex’s vigilance and instinct, a dangerous scheme was foiled.

And how many more such traps are hiding among us?