That wouldn't have worked. His job was to service ?wells? or something like that. He had a mobile job at various work sites.
Do we know if he used company vehicles/trucks to get to the various job sites? If so, could he have taken one and:
-left his car sitting at work thinking everyone would say they saw it there
-turned off his cell phone - without thinking to remove the battery yet
-drove to CC and picked up Hailey
-started getting worried about the phone trail and took out the battery just in case (he thought it wouldn't ping if it was turned off, but couldn't take any chance of being tracked at this stage)
-relocated Hailey and went to mom's in Big Springs
-put the battery back in his phone since the relocation was complete and he's not sure if the phone company can tell when the phone's off vs. battery removed (not suspicious to turn it off; very suspicious to remove the battery)
-headed over to mom's until 2:40 and gone back to the office to change out the cars around his normal shift end of 3:00 p.m.
-gone back to CC to make sure everything looked normal in the house (maybe started making calls to have a couch removed), got interrupted by DD...
We know from NG that his employer says he didn't quit and didn't get fired.
We know people saw him leave the break room with the Dr. Pepper, but we don't know if anyone saw him leaving in his own car, do we? We also don't know if anyone at his job even thought it was weird that he got a soda and split - we heard they thought it was weird in hindsight - after they already knew he concocted an altercation story.
Maybe he thought since people saw him in the break room and saw his car in the lot that everyone would figure he was working out in the field all day. Perhaps his car in the lot and the sighting in the break room were supposed to secure his alibi. Maybe his co-workers did indeed figure he was working on 12/27 and he did indeed go to work on 12/28. His alibi didn't start to unravel until an investigator told him they could trace phone pings even if the phone is turned off, for example, and he came up with the work altercation story under interrogation on 12/28 pm or 12/29. Perhaps his boss and co-workers weren't aware of anything unusual until LE went back and talked to the boss and learned the altercation story was bs and starting asking if anyone had actually seen him since he left the break room.
Bottom line:
I'd like to know about SA's normal work routine and if he had keys and access to a work vehicle. Did he often go into the field alone on assignment? In his mind, he'd be killing 2 birds with one stone if he was in a company car when he went back to Billie's house on 12/27 a.m.; (1) leaves his car at work to establish work alibi on 12/27, and (2) moves Hailey without having to worry about any evidence being found in his car... I don't think he knew for sure when phones do and don't ping. Heck, we are all smart and more informed about crime scenarios than most, but we kicked it around endlessly for days and I'm still a little confused! In some ways, I think we're giving SA too much credit.