In my not so short life and career (5/6ths of which has been self-employed) I’ve had more than my share of BS artists.

I cannot emphasize point 5.3 enough. Not just for BS artists, for everyone, but especially for BS artists. Document everything you can. Reply in short, professional, bulleted lists what you understood from your last conversation and your expecations for the next steps. My favorite end to each bullet is “Please confirm or correct.” You iterate until you have a common understanding. If you don’t get a response, you send a reminder in an appropriate time frame. Use read confirmations on emails if possible.

Don’t accept verbal responses. If Brad refuses to respond in writing, you should still send your bullet lists with your side of it following the same procedure as above.

When things go pearshaped and/or the shit hits the fan, there is an electronic paper trail that cuts through the BS like a laser. Either you have a clear statement from Brad that he did not deliver, or you have clear expectation statements from you to Brad that he never responded to.