Your thoughts worked!! After work I bought a lantern and went for my glasses so I am finally able to see the world as it is - man is my vision distorted, literally, as well.
Today I surveyed the area and walked and walked and went to every 4th floor in the complex and watched from above -good workout but no cat. I asked the policeman and he said he had seen her with a black cat in the morning -a friend's cat which is an unspayed male.
Later on it started to rain so I came back home and was watching and cried again... BF came in (yes he is indeed moving this weekend...) and it was darker so we brought the lantern and walked around the complex, no cats either, he suggested driving to the other side and we did. I had read a trick: to put the lantern at the eye level because if there was a cat in the dark it surely is looking at you, and the cat's eyes stand out with the light... well there it was!! a gray fat cat sitting next to a wall! BF approached her and she didn't move.. then I was carrying a favorite toy with tuna scent and she approached me slowly... I was able to catch her and she started purring and I couldn't believe it!! she is full of dirt and when she saw Gabanna both got hostile... but now I know the "protocol" so I am keeping them separate for now... so now BF and I will go to the 24x7 hospital so she gets checked in case she got fleas or something and get a good bath.... I am soooooooooooo happy and relieved and want to cry again... can't believe she is here
Thanks so much for your support these days
God bless cats and cat lovers!!