Chapter 2

Fath Abu Bakr hailed from Sousse, Tunisia. On the top floor of his skyscraper are his offices, facing the Mediterranean Sea’s still and blue waters, reflecting a few clouds as they are passing overhead. He used the lower levels for his private living spaces. His son, Adil, occupies the wing facing north.

Fath docked his ships, used for the import-export business, in an isolated area at the waterfront in Port el Kantaoui, about ten miles north of Sousse. He dealt with tropical fruit, coffee, rare African game, and illegal ivory. In the affluent yacht club area, between the yachts docked at intervals in the harbor, Fath also reserved a few docks for his slave business. He owned dance halls, taxi services, limousines, and vans in Austria and Italy. These were his favorite countries where he kidnapped females. On land, he used his reinforced vans to transport them. From Italy, he used the port of Genoa, located on its northern seashore. On the sea, he shipped them in smaller, insignificant-looking boats with steel hauls, from Rome to Port el Kantaoui with a stopover at the island of Sardinia. Then he transported them by land again, using his slave runners, to various Tunisian and Moroccan cities. Port el Kantaoui has an abundance of beautiful beaches, restaurants, golf courses, and nightclubs. Many vacationers spend their entire holiday in town because there is much to see and do. It is a busy place, and it was perfect for Fath Abu Bakr, where he set up this profitable operation.

In the Middle East, kings, sultans, sheiks, and masters practiced slavery since pre-Sumerian times. During the fifties, Arab slave traders concentrated on White Slavery. It is a term used to refer to sexual slavery, and it relates to young white females and boys, mostly when it involved the enslavement of many European peoples. Fath’s grandfather started the business, and it has flourished ever since. In the earlier days, he capitalized on wars and conflicts as a cover for capturing slaves. He used male slaves to work the fields and herd camels, but he used young males for sex. He sold older females for household work, but he used young females, starting at the age of ten, for sexual pleasures. He couldn’t keep up with the demand. That was when Fath decided to concentrate on the latter because it was far more profitable than his other enterprises. He followed tradition. For thousands of years, slave running was an accepted way of life, and no one questioned it. Recently, however, Abu Bakr felt the pressure of law enforcement.

Fath Abu Bakr was fifty-nine and confident, at the height of his enterprise when Franz Heidel killed him with his sniper rifle in front of the warehouse. Franz had no idea about the wide-ranging realm in which Abu Bakr operated. All he knew that there would be an Arab in front of the warehouse in Villach, and he must kill him. It was Franz’s job to pick out the right person. That wasn’t difficult because one Arab, dressed in ill-fitting and dirty western clothes, opened the limousine door, then an exceedingly well-dressed man stepped out, and another Arab bowed in front of him.

Abu Bakr spoke Arabic, German, and Italian. His parents were well off and traveled extensively in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. They continuously pressured him to succeed in business. However, Fath was a mild person who preferred the Middle Eastern way of life. Proving to his parents that he was a capable businessperson wasn’t easy.

Because he studied German at an early age, thanks to his Austrian mother, he attended the University of Salzburg and earned a business degree. During the last thirty-five years, Abu Bakr built his empire, stretching from southern Europe into northern Africa. The import-export business was profitable, but it was nothing compared with the white, female slavery activity along the Barbary Coast. His parents didn’t know about Abu’s secondary vocation. However, they were happy with his financial successes. He operated in an ideal strategic location, protected from prying people. Hotels, restaurants, and souvenir shops aided him around the harbor area. Beaches and historic pirate ships from the past are open to visitors. It is a perfect environment for the slave traders to hide. Besides, it is a convenient place for slave runners, even here, to abduct young females. However, slavers try to stay away, protecting their hiding places.

During the last five years, Fath Abu Bakr’s son has learned the business, and he was Fath’s, right-hand man. Because Abu’s parents forced him to succeed, Abu used the same strategy with Adil. But this strategy didn’t work with his son. Though he maintained seven wives and sixteen female slaves, he found escape in his gay activities. For that, he kept anywhere from five to fifteen boys. He is taller than his father was, and he preferred to wear western clothing. However, he does wear a jalabiya over regular clothing if the occasion demands it. He was always clean-shaven, and to stay that way, he needed to shave in the morning and the evening. His thin aquiline nose nearly reached his thin lips. Adil avoided unnecessary sunburn. For that reason, he rarely visited an outdoor swimming pool. And, when Fath went on a cruise in the Mediterranean on one of his ships, he spent time with male companions. He appointed his second in command to manage the import-export business, but he particularly liked the business’s part, dealing with white slavery. Adil controlled that himself — it had its obvious, unique benefits. However, he also kept an eye on the import-export business because that part was legal, and it needed to be at the forefront.

Adil loved his father, and he respected him, despite that he continually pressured him to succeed. He was shocked when he heard that someone assassinated his father. Though he knew the business well, it was still difficult for Adil to step in and run it. His father’s death forced him to end his playboy’s style and think seriously about the business. Before, he depended on his father, but now he had no one to lean on.

Because of his father’s unexpected death, he was apprehensive. Will someone kill me too? I must change my lifestyle — hire two additional bodyguards. And add bulletproofing to my limousine. Also, I must change my schedule. Don’t become a creature of habit.

These were the thoughts that Adil had, related to his safety after someone murdered his father